Check’s in the mail but may never arrive
Postmaster DeJoy is no joy; he’s cost me inconvenience, money and stress. He needs to go! He wants a self-sustaining Post Office (PO) — a commercial enterprise — not an essential service operated by the government for all Americans. Being 90 years old and a veteran, I’m particularly dependent on the mail.
Two months ago, my son sent a 3-day delivery package from Baltimore; that package took nearly a month to arrive. On Jan. 25, I sent a check in a pre-addressed envelope to my savings bank, and I just now got a receipt that the check arrived; that’s two months later. That can’t be COVID related!
Meanwhile, I’ve paid $45 in stop payment and returned check fees to banks. Now my electric bill has not cleared my checking and a month has passed. That’s a late charge — if it ever arrives. I don’t pay bills online because workers lose jobs doing that.
This experience has been a fiasco, but it’s not life-threatening compared to fellow veterans or someone’s medicine being lost in the mail. That can be deadly. My VA physician recently asked me if I wanted the VA to mail my medicine; it would be cheaper. No way! Why? Because of the reliability of the mail since DeJoy took over.
Remember when Dejoy quietly ordered the dismantling of extra sorting machines and the removal of postal boxes just before the last election? DeJoy is a menace — an efficiency “expert,” not an experienced leader and servant of people. He doesn’t understand the meaning of the saying on the building in which he works: “Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds.”
President Biden must appoint a new PO Board to find a postmaster general who understands people, who’s sensitive to people living in the backwaters of America and who depend on local, small post offices and timely mail deliveries.
The post office is an essential service, not a commercial enterprise!
Robert Shumaker
Morgantown
Age is just a number, so don’t call me ‘old’
The other day, a doctor said to me, “You need to understand now that you’re getting older, things will begin to happen to your body.” So what does that mean? That I have to accept that certain things will happen to my body? Cancer? Dementia? Alzheimer’s? Stroke?
Besides this, I thought of other things the doctor didn’t say about becoming older. I hate to admit it, but there are things like getting more wrinkles, losing hair and visiting the dentist more often.
Often, I think about why I don’t like the terms old, older, elderly and senior. Deep down, I think when people, friends and family see me as one of those terms, they think, “He shouldn’t be jogging, cutting down trees, racing cars and going 110 mph,” and so on. In other words, I should slow down and act my age or something catastrophic will happen to me.
Recently, a former student of mine saw me in a university parking lot and acted surprised. Red-faced and nervous, she said, “Oh my God, Dr. Iannone, I heard you retired, and then when no one said anything about you, I thought eventually you died. I’m so sorry.” “Yes,” I told her, “I’m alive and doing well.”
Even though I retired from the university several years ago, I never retired from life. To me, “retirement” has always meant sitting around, waiting for death. And I refuse to do that.
Finally, I do notice that I read the obituaries more often than before. And now that I’ve reached my 80s I come across many old friends. Susan Jacoby, who wrote Never Say Die, stressed when you’re middle-age, you don’t look at the obituaries very often, and when you do, you hardly know anyone. She goes on to say, at the age you do read obituaries, you perhaps see you really don’t care if people call you old. You begin to see that being called old is no longer important to you. What is important is how you live the remaining years of your life.
Ron Iannone
Morgantown
For today and tomorrow: Biden’s American Jobs Plan
West Virginia workers are hurting. The global stock market is up but West Virginia workers are down. Unemployment remains at record high levels. Essential workers have been used, abused and under-paid during the pandemic. Good-paying jobs are almost nonexistent for those laid off.
Sen. Joe Manchin understands the help we need. West Virginians are looking for a hand up, not a hand out! Social progress depends on creative, comprehensive and innovative approaches to the economy, the environment and social justice. We cannot solve our problems with tools from the last century! West Virginia coal has and will continue to keep the lights on in America, but those lights are dimming. New cost effective approaches can move the U.S. back into global economic and moral leadership.
West Virginia infrastructure problems are huge. We cannot afford to limit infrastructure to roads, bridges and broadband. Approximately 70% of our drinking water is lost to crumbling infrastructure. Last week I witnessed a major water line break which resulted in thousands of gallons of drinking water cascading over the hillside in Morgantown’s South Park. Lead pipes poison residents.
Life expectancy and wealth for the majority of West Virginians are decreasing. Public school buildings are often cesspools of asbestos, foul air, unsafe conditions and crowded spaces which create a toxic learning setting. Although West Virginia has one of the highest rates of home ownership in the country, many dwellings are collapsing because there is no money for maintenance.
The American Jobs Plan does not waste our precious dollars. This comprehensive jobs bill enables all to experience the American Dream. By contrast, a piecemeal infrastructure plan would further foul our air and water and contribute to material waste and social injustice.
The American Jobs Plan develops an infrastructure for all West Virginians and for all Americans to move up, to address climate change, and to promote high-quality education and training.
Do your part: Let Sen. Manchin know you appreciate his ongoing support for an economy that will benefit all West Virginians now and in the future.
Dr. Bill Reger-Nash
Morgantown
Encourage students to attend summer school
James Sarakatsannis, leader of education practice at education consulting firm McKinsey and Company, co-wrote a report that estimated the average student could lose five to nine months of learning by June, with students of color losing more than that because of a lack of in-person learning.
Monongalia County teachers, administrators and parents have worked hard within the distance learning model. The board provided Chromebooks to students and provided hot spot WiFi services to those 1,000 or so students who do not have at home internet service.
The school system will use March-May to catch up on basic instruction. But three months of in-person learning can’t make up for 12 months of learning loss especially for those students who had limited access to the internet.
The board has announced that it will provide a Summer Avalanche program from July 6-29. The “Summer Snowflakes” program from previous years has been a wonderful enrichment opportunity. But “basic skills” is what is required for many at this point in time especially for those 1,000 marginal students who had limited internet access.
I encourage the Board of Education to use its CARES funds to pay teachers and counselors for the extra time required to call every parent of those 1,000 students in order to invite them to a summer learning program.
Most of us without children in the school system have taken a pass this year in assisting the youth of the community. It’s time for us to step up. It’s also time for those advocacy groups who are quick to complain but slow to perform to step up to the plate. Find out ways to assist in the recruiting of students to the Summer Avalanche program — make a call, make an in person visit, persuade a parent and support the child.
Dennis Poluga
Morgantown
