We need competent, sensible airline security

In reaction to the nearly tragic events on the airplane landing in Detroit ("Terrorism Attempt Fails on Jetliner Over Detroit," Dec. 26), I hear that air travelers are in store for new tighter security. You know what would be a great idea: How about just some standard-grade security that would keep someone from boarding a plane with explosives strapped to his leg? And how about providing it each and every day?

Americans and air travelers around the world can withstand consistent, thorough security even if it means some inconvenience. What gets really tiresome is security that is claimed to be strong, but is really quite lax, and breaches of which cause a "get-tough" stance from worthless bureaucrats who require Transportation Security Administration agents to test breast milk instead of training them properly and requiring them to perform their jobs in a competent and professional manner.

JIM SAINT
Murrysville

Shovel, or pay up

Our esteemed mayor is always complaining about not having enough money. Does he realize how much money he is losing out on? Does he know that it is against the law not to shovel the snow off residential sidewalks? I walk on Wightman Street in Squirrel Hill, from Bartlett Street to Beacon Street, and the majority of the sidewalks are not shoveled.

Do any of these lazy homeowners realize that they can be sued if someone falls? I am sure there are many more neighborhoods like mine.

It is time that the city takes action against these homeowners. Mr. Mayor, earn some money for the city and help prevent someone from falling. I am a senior citizen and I pay someone to shovel my walk.

NEIL E. BLUMENFELD
Squirrel Hill

Two-way gratitude

Roberta Saunier's letter regarding who should say "thank you" to whom at the register infuriated me ("Yes, a Problem," Dec. 20). While I work as a busgirl at a restaurant and not as a salesclerk at the grocery store, I am still well aware of the fact that customers can be just as rude as employees.

Just as a sullen teenage clerk can ring up all your items without so much as making eye contact, a customer can also completely ignore a waiter as he fills your water with a smile and a "How are you?" When a clerk, a busser, a waiter, etc., says "thank you" to a customer, he or she is thanking the person for enabling his or her employment, and I agree that this is basic in the unspoken handbook of manners.

But the customer has plenty of reasons to say "thank you" to the worker as well. Why? Because that worker has dealt with hours of rude customers, foul spills and inner-workplace disasters ("What do you mean we're out of forks?!").

And it's amazing how many of those workers manage to keep smiles on their faces through it all. Personally, it makes my workday a bit brighter when a customer is appreciative of my efforts, and that in turn makes my smile to other customers a bit more genuine. Is it so much to ask for mutual gratitude?

AVERI CLEMENTS
Peters

Holiday humbug

Regarding the editorial "Yes, Virginia" (Dec. 24): You have reprinted the letter, written 112 years ago, to a little girl called Virginia, now long dead. This appears every year at this time, and everyone calls it a wonderful letter. I would like to express, very strongly, a contrary opinion.

Virginia was 8 years old, as she stated in her letter. Further, her father told her that anything in the The Sun (the paper to which Virginia wrote) was true. And she wrote, I quote: "Please tell me the truth: Is there a Santa Claus?" This is a small, puzzled girl, asking for a truthful, straightforward answer, requiring a yes or no. Instead, she receives a long, convoluted essay, in a turgid, metaphorical style, completely unsuitable for a little girl, and obviously directed at adults, for the purpose of showing the writer to be clever, sensitive and so on -- very self-serving.

And the whole thing is just one long, direct lie. Is there any adult who actually believes in Santa Claus? How can parents, who buy the presents, wrap them up, put them in stockings, etc., possibly believe in him? I agree that Santa Claus is a pleasant fable, on the level of the Tooth Fairy, which I enjoy as great fun, strictly on that level, and it is perfectly acceptable for very small children. But when a child has grown to the age of actually thinking, and wanting answers, it is utterly damnable to give her a rigmarole of direct lies, when asked specifically for truth.

So why do people, for more than a century, regard this horrible letter as wonderful and sensitive?

BILL GALBRAITH
North Point Breeze

My doctor's example

I would like to share with your readers an example of true patriotism and the level of frustration with our government being expressed in the real world (that would be the world outside of Washington, D.C.). While waiting to be seen by my physician recently, I spotted some reading material in the waiting room. It was titled Veterans and Patriots United Political Platform. The 10 principles outlined were supporting the preservation and restoration of America as we have known it.

When I finished my examination, I asked my physician if he had placed the literature in the waiting room. He proudly and firmly declared that he did and exclaimed that he has "had enough" of politicians trampling the Constitution and we need to take our country back. He is now going to meetings with like-minded people and getting involved. I told the physician that I agree with him 100 percent, but that I was surprised to see any conservative literature in a doctor's office as most would be afraid of alienating and losing patients.

The physician said he feels so strongly about this that he was willing to lose patients over it! I cannot explain the feeling of pride and hope that filled me at that moment. Anyone willing to sacrifice their livelihood to stand on the true values of the Constitution is a true patriot.

What we need are more prominent professionals like this to publicly take this stand. To all professionals, follow this doctor's example, come out of the closet and take a stand for liberty, freedom and the Constitution! You owe that much to the country that made you successful.

MICHAEL J. KARDELL
Murrysville

The message to me

Being of Scottish ancestry I decided last spring to order a kilt to wear in celebration of my heritage. Part of the package included an argyle jacket. However, upon receiving the jacket I decided that I didn't like it and returned it to the merchant in Edinburgh, Scotland, via the U.S. Postal Service.

Eight weeks later the jacket still had not been received in Edinburgh. After numerous telephone calls to the vendor and the postal service, it was determined that the package had been held in British Customs for payment of a value-added-tax and that after 21 days it was to be returned to me. Two-and-a-half months later, I still had not received my package so I filed a claim with the U.S. Postal Service for the cost of the jacket since I had sent it insured. A week after I filed my claim, the jacket arrived.

End of story? Not quite. Last week I received a check from the postal service for the value of my jacket!

What, you may ask, is the point of this letter? The point is this: If the federal government can't keep track of a simple package and issues me a check that I shouldn't have received, how many more opportunities for mismanagement and fraud will there be once the government gets its hands on health care? I have some swampland in Florida for anyone who really believes that the government getting more involved with health care will actually end up reducing the deficit as is currently being touted in Washington!

P.S. I voided the check and returned it to the postal service!

WILLIAM B. GORDON
Hampton

Many factors go into a teacher's salary and pension

I am writing in response to Matthew Marlin's letter concerning the pension multiplier for Pennsylvania teachers ("This Pension Multiplier Increase Will Take a Toll on Taxpayers," Dec. 21). Dr. Marlin needs to get his facts straight. He may be an economics professor (read teacher), but he seems to be unaware of the facts concerning teacher pensions.

A teacher's salary is determined upon a variety of factors: how much education he/she has, his or her number of years of service, postgraduate credits, any extracurricular activities he or she may participate in such as sports, theater, music rehearsals, etc. Many teachers give time and effort well beyond what their salaries indicate.

Probably most important, a teacher's final salary computation is based on an average of his or her final three years of service, not the final salary. I don't know too many teachers who retired making $80,000 as their final average. Most averages are much less than $80,000. Many teachers retire with a minimum of 30 to 35 years of service.

I contributed to my own pension, as does every teacher in the state.

At the moment there is no cost-of-living adjustment for retired teachers. That is one thing that Harrisburg is neglecting.

JANET (COOKIE) ELBLING
Squirrel Hill

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