The Willow Glen Resident

Letters

Real moms stay at home to take care of their children

This is regarding Deborah Taylor-Hollis's commentary in the May 21 issue of the Willow Glen Resident ("Real moms know Bosco is a food group").

Real mothers stay home with their kids and take care of them. Real women do not buy into the myth put forth by the radical feminist movement that women are somehow super-beings and can work, raise a family and keep house.

While her article started off somewhat reasonably--yes, we have all had times where we didn't quite get to things, and we all know that we are not Martha Stewarts--the rest of the article is very disturbing. I don't know who she is talking about. I don't know anybody who would lie about their family's state of array or disarray. She sounds like a woman who needs to really sit back and evaluate her position in life. She doesn't sound like she is doing anything well or is happy doing it. I can't imagine treating my kids the way she does.

Sure, we all know that everything doesn't always go as planned, but I always make sure my kids are fed properly, bathe regularly, brush their teeth and have clean bed sheets. These are basics in life. If you can't even get these things done, what is going on? It is a mother's (parent's) responsibility to take care of the children she brings into the world. If she doesn't want to take care of them, don't have children.

I am a real mom and I stay home and take care of my kids, and I know many more like me. The only ones I know that are described in the commentary are moms who work outside the home, and their kids are always the ones who suffer.

Maybe these moms ought to get their priorities straight. And before I get all the B.S. about not being able to afford it, I understand if you are a single mother, there is not much you can do. But if you are married, why don't you change your lifestyle to accommodate your kids? Your kids will be around for a long time--that bigger house or new BMW will not.

Teri Lynn Baron
Saratoga

Dogs on Lincoln can be nuisances, dangers

Isn't it grand to walk down Lincoln Avenue, now that summer is arriving? However, I have a complaint, which others share. Those who walk their dogs in "downtown" Willow Glen appear to believe everyone is enamored with their pets. This is not true.

These dogs, even when leashed, are frequently nuisances. I do not find any appeal having a bagel while a beagle barks at someone else's canine pride and joy.

It looks like the same people with the self-centered attitude which would rid our community of group homes, who think that it is OK to talk at the movies and drive at 70 miles an hour on your rear bumper. It is my world, too, and we share it briefly. Fully 50 percent of the dog owners, it appears, do not have pooper scoopers to remove their pets' calling cards from the paths of others.

The demonstrated attitude that I may do whatever I like, at the expense of others, is mistaken. It's Sprewellian!

It is my opinion that we all need to take a look at this problem and be sure to watch our step. Pets have little, if any, place in crowded places. We risk the danger of being bitten, and then what? What if someone kicks a schnauzer into the street? Worse yet, what if a child is seriously injured?

My hope is that people in Willow Glen start practicing some common courtesy and take their pets to a less congested area.

Alan Bennett
Delbarr Court

Neighborhood work should be done at the proper time

Regarding the June 10 article concerning the complaint by J. Michael Gonzales about the tacky look of a corner of Willow Glen near Meridian Avenue and Interstate 280, I have another long-standing complaint.

Speaking of gateways to Willow Glen, what could be more conspicuous than the median strip where Lincoln Avenue ends at Koch Lane and north for a hundred yards or more?

I recall when there were trees planted all along that strip. When did city staff plant the trees? On the hottest day of the summer! Of course, most of the trees died; that was a foregone conclusion. The next year (after I complained) they planted more trees, in the heat of the summer, of course. And those trees also died.

I should think the department in charge of planting trees would know better than to plant trees in the summer. Anyone with any sense knows that trees should be planted in the winter or dormant season. What a waste of taxpayers' money.

I can recall a couple of other things that made me very upset that were unnecessary. When the park on Curtner Avenue just south of the school on Cottle Avenue was in the planning, they cut down all of the gorgeous cherry-tree orchard just before the cherries were ripe. Then what happened? The city ran out of money and the proposed park lay fallow for several years. Some planning.

Then when, without any prior notice to Willow Glenites, they wanted to widen Lincoln Avenue between Minnesota Avenue and Malone Road, they cut down the most beautiful trees in the city, the catalpa trees. These trees were large, and a catalpa has big light-green leaves and clusters of white and pink blossoms all over the ends of every branch.

When they did the slashing job, I was desolate. I've not seen a catalpa tree anywhere since then. What a pity.

I hope the city wakes up to doing things in the proper order and at the proper time.

Alma Taylor
Gardendale Drive

Many thanks to Vera Cardoza for her work with HOPE

Hope's lost...Vera Cardoza's granddaughter's fine letter of June 3 explained why there was no call for June's pick-up from the HOPE Rehabilitation Services truck. Ironically, not too many hours after reading the article, I saw the HOPE truck down the street, and I wasn't called.

I'm sure that I can speak for many when I say that it was Vera, being who she was, who prompted frequent donations. Phone solicitations, especially computer-generated, would not generate the response that Vera did.

Janie Polizzi
Glen Una Avenue

Correction

The Golden Book awards given out June 2 to top academic achievers (The Resident, June 10) were awarded to Willow Glen Middle School students.

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