Panhandler Rules Sparks Passionate Response
Bravo, Mark Roessler ["Hey, Noho: Just Ban the Poor," September 4, 2008] and shame, Northampton!
I have recently returned from 20 years in the Western Hemisphere's poorest country, Haiti, where there are no food stamps, no homeless shelters, no public health care. Sick people sit in hospital gates begging for money for treatment, and if they don't get enough money in time, they die. Not even the director of the hospital would suggest that they shouldn't be allowed to beg! Starving people walk Port-au-Prince begging for money or a bite of food from other starving people. If they don't get enough, they die. But no one, even in that country with its history of draconian dictatorships, would suggest that they shouldn't be allowed to ask for what they need.
I am female, walk Northampton unescorted, have been panhandled, and wasn't traumatized. The one panhandler who got my motor running told me he couldn't get a job because he is black! That made me mad enough to sing, "Sha na na, get a job!" and even he had the grace to laugh. Big deal.
If you want to stop panhandling and don't want to become the equivalent of the TonTon Macoutes, give them some money, dammit! Buy the poor guys lunch. Since most homeless people have mental health issues, use the energy you put into supporting that horrible referendum into supporting a referendum for adequate mental health care. Provide somewhere for erstwhile panhandlers to sit and socialize. Get to the root causes.
Pretty soon, my well-groomed Northampton matrons and esquires, you yourselves are going to have to ask for food because your economy is going to crumble, your climate is going to change, and even if you have money, there won't be anything to buy. When you go to beg for food, remember how you dealt with those less fortunate back in the days when you had plenty.
Kathy Grey
Easthampton
Critic Blows It on Blue Heron
Your dining reviewer should stick to the Dirty Truth. She doesn't have the palate to review a restaurant like the Blue Heron ["Flavors of Late Summer," September 4, 2008]. While the former has stupendous beer but the food is spotty at best, Blue Heron has one of the best menus in the Valley. I raise Rhodesian Ridgebacks for a living and that livelihood has taken me all over the world. In my travels, I've developed an appreciation for cheap food and fine dining. It's not easy to pull off a menu that is complex in execution and catholic in its choice of dishes. Even the lowly fried squid deserves a place at the table.
Agnes Whitacre
Williamsburg
