Pier memories
I’d like to put in my two cents worth of the experience I had on the pier when I just arrived in Kona to commercial fish in 1977, in reference to JM Thompson’s letter published on April 23.
I was just about to sit down on the toilet and a young punk grabbed the toilet paper and demanded a dollar for it. I looked like an easy target that just got off the boat.
I startled him, faking I was reaching for a dollar, and snatching the roll of paper out of his hands. He ran away.
I got a good laugh from it.
Dennis Lawson
Kalaoa
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Time will tell
I am responding to the letter written by Mike Ruggles, Mountain View, printed in the April 22 issue of West Hawaii Today. He is so far off that it is impossible to fit a complete response into the limited amount of words allowed by the paper.
To begin with, experiences by his parents, years ago, does not qualify him to be an authority on this subject. His statement that “citizens get the benefit of the doubt because the police were sworn to serve and protect them not shoot them if they are scared” is stupid. Then he adds: “how can three highly trained police not defend themselves against one person?” That shows his naivety.
Having been a cop for 32 years, I understand. I doubt that the cop shot the man because he was scared. I suspect that the cop saw the assault on his fellow officer as something far out of the ordinary. Why would a large man attack three cops unless he was not in his right mind? Why would he straddle a cop and keep pounding his head with his fists with the cops head receiving the full impact while against the ground? The answer is: The aggressor is not in his right mind. Why does Ruggles expect the cops in full uniform to identify themselves in daylight?
Most of the facts concerning this case have not been made public and someday the courts will decide on the validity of the actions taken by the officers involved. Let us wait until then before we pass judgment or make condemnation.
Mike Ruggles writes that his dad said “one cop should be able to control three citizens at one time.” I had occasion to control and arrest 23 demonstrators at one time, all by myself, because they were reasonable, sober, people. The facts of every case differ and time will tell.
Leningrad Elarionoff
Waimea
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What about the worker’s perspective?
A search on Craigslist Big Island for studio housing yielded a median (middle) cost of $850 per month. A person needs three times that to afford the rental or a monthly income of $2,550. Calculating 50 weeks of work a year and 40 hours of work a week, that means an hourly wage of $15.
Are the jobs offered at job fairs and on Craigslist and Facebook paying $15 per hour? Are the jobs full-time? Is there job security? Are retirement IRA’s, health care, sick leave and paid vacation offered?
Could we read an article in West Hawaii Today on this topic written from the worker’s perspective?
Vivian Green
Waikoloa Village
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Letters policy
Letters to the editor should be 300 words or less and will be edited for style and grammar. Longer viewpoint guest columns may not exceed 800 words. Submit online at www.westhawaiitoday.com/?p=118321 or via email to letters@westhawaiitoday.com.
