Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/704274
OnJune25Iwroteanopin- ion piece titled "Caught up in the moment." I was concerned about the knee jerk reactions of people caught up in the mo- ment and the consequence of their un-thought out statements and actions. On the July 2 I wrote about some of my concerns about Donald Trump and the racist heritage of his father and his own racist remarks. Last Saturday there was a let- ter to the editor that clearly ex- emplifies knee jerk thinking. I had pointed out that Trump's father had been sued over overt discrimination be- cause of a sting operation. In that kind of operation people with equal qualifications ap- plied to rent Trump's property; Trump denied rent to African American applicants despite the fact they met his other qualifi- cation. The letter to the editor stated "I'm sure [he] would get a lot of sympathy from landown- ers that [sic] have had to evict crummy people who quit pay- ing rent and then [the landown- ers?] have to pay for the clean up [sic] and repairs after they fi- nally get rid of them." Seems like the letter writer is making a sweeping generalization about African American renters. This is knee jerk at its worst. Further on in the letter I am accused of accusing "Republi- cans of being racists;" nowhere in my column did I do that, nor would I ever make such an ac- cusation. I did not even use the word "Republican" in my col- umn. The writer seems to think my concerns about Trump and his father extend to all Republi- cans, and he has put words into my mouth so to speak. Trump is allegedly a Presbyterian as am I. Does the writer think I am accusing our denomination of racism as well? This is an- other example of knee jerking. The writer goes on to say that I compare "Trump to the Muslim terrorist Omar Ma- teen" because I wrote they were both sons of immigrants in Queens. As even my seven- year-old grandson would say with his hands on his hips, "Now really." The writer further states that he must have missed the column where I wrote about some of Hillary Clinton's troubles. He is right there; he did miss what I wrote about her e-mail problems. On a less local level knee jerking was well demonstrated by former Illinois Congress- man, yes a Republican, and perhaps a Presbyterian as far as I know, Joe Walsh, who posted the following remarks after the terrible events in Dal- las last week: "This is now war. Watch out Obama. Watch out black lives matter punks. Real America is coming after you." Later in the day he said "It's time 4 patriotic Americans to stand up & stand against all the Cop haters — from Obama to the thugs on the street." Talk about stoking the fire. Does this kind of thinking or these kinds of comments con- tribute to any solutions to the unrest, anger and hate evi- dent in our society today? I think not; if anything they in- flame, they continue the habit we have of pointing fingers, of blaming various groups and they make it even more diffi- cult to develop solutions. The Dallas Police force had been working hard to change its image and its practices. Many had praised their efforts; nev- ertheless, an angry person de- cided to shoot helpless law en- forcement officers while they were trying to protect the pub- lic. Was he deranged? Was he just angry? His act is unforgiv- able, as far as I am concerned, but in part, it has to have been triggered by all the knee jerk thinking and actions around us. We need to work to tone down our public rhetoric, to de- velop forums for bringing peo- ple together, and working for solutions. Calling names, put- ting words into others' mouths and making vast unsubstanti- ated and generalized accusa- tions will not do that. I learned a long time ago that we have little control over much of the world and its events, but we do have control of our attitudes. I am reminded of the description of a Jewish woman in exile, fleeing German Nazi oppression; in his evoca- tive novel Road of Ages, Robert Nathan describes her attitude: "Toward men and toward God, she maintained a respectful at- titude; lightened by the belief that in a crisis she could deal adequately with either of them." If we could maintain that same attitude the world would be a better place. I am sorry the letter writer and ex-Congressman Walsh do not understand that. JoeHarropisaretired educator with more than 30 years of service to the North State. He can be reached at DrJoeHarrop@sbcglobal.net. JoeHarrop A knee jerk reaction to a Trump column Cartoonist's take Burglarstealsfromlocal kids charity Editor: On July 8, the Back to School Project's storage unit was broken into. The young man broke into several units, stole miscel- laneous items and then sat on the side of the road near Walmart to sell these items. He was quickly apprehended and arrested by law enforce- ment — thank you blue — but not before he sold 10 of the Easy-Ups that we use for our events — $1,000 worth of Easy-ups. We use those tents to pro- vide shade for children and families at our shopping day and free haircutting event in August each year. Each tent, and it's case, has the Back to School Project name on it. If you purchased one of these pop-ups and would be kind enough to return it, no questions asked, please call the Back to School Project at 529-4074. — Kim Berry, Red Bluff City to shut airport at height of season Editor: The city of Red Bluff airport management is in the process of letting a contract to shut down the airport for 17 days in August. The purpose is to re- surface the runway. No one would argue with the need to resurface the run- way. But, to do it during the height of the summer flying season and the wildfire season is just plain crazy. We need to let the city of Red Bluff know that this is not acceptable. If you're a pilot that uses the Red Bluff Airport or an aviation supporter that wants to see the Red Bluff Airport succeed, you need to speak up now. The City Council meets at 7 p.m. Tuesday, July 19 and the Red Bluff Airport Com- mission meets at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday, July 20. Both meet in the City Hall chambers at 555 Washington St. in down- town Red Bluff. Since the reopening of the restaurant at the airport and the commitment and energy of a new FBO operator, the Red Bluff Airport has finally started to come back from a near death experience. Planes are flying in once again. The restaurant is thriv- ing and Gary Walker's mainte- nance facility is doing a good business. Why in the world would the city airport management want to shut the airport down at such a critical time? Resurfacing the runway could take place in October when the flying season dies down and the fire season is less critical. I would remind the city that during last year's fires Redding and Chico airports ran out of fuel and Red Bluff was the only airport in the north state where tankers could get fuel for a period of time. If you care at all about hav- ing a thriving airport at Red Bluff, let your City Council know. Whether they know it or not, the Red Bluff Airport is an economic generator for the city. A successful airport brings in money and business. For the city to grow, it needs a thriving airport. — Irwin Fust, Anderson Home robbery suspect Editor: My name is Kevin Grannes and my house was robbed July 12 during the day while I was gone to a VA doctor's appointment. They took my family ri- fles, compound bow, hunting knives, spotting scope and a few other things. The roofers next door were able to get a good description of the van used and the two suspects. They pulled the van over in Los Molinos, and ar- rested the driver. The career felon was caught with my four rifles in the van, one being loaded. This low life scum, was re- leased the next day. What the hell is wrong with this picture? Not only do we feel violated and hurt very deeply by scum of the earth, we feel we have been laughed at by our criminal system. We are very thankful to the Tehama County Sheriff's De- partment, who did a hell of a job finding my guns. It seems to be for no good. Deputies ar- rest the suspects just so they can be released. Felon with four stolen guns, one loaded, out on the streets within hours. This is wrong. — Kevin Grannes, Red Bluff Dealing with toxic people Editor: We have all encountered people in our lives who are negative. Dealing with nega- tive people can be emotionally draining and can bring un- wanted stress into your life. This can be difficult to handle if you are a positive, nice, well rounded person. Understand- ing how to deal with these people can help you develop strategies to overcome toxic people in a more constructive way. All of us can relate to "the people" who make it their top priority to gossip, lie, say and do cruel things and tell ru- mors. They do these things so others find you unappealing. To most they seem to be nor- mal people, but to the victims they are unstable, vindictive and just plain nasty. Negative people can find something wrong in any situ- ation. They are professionals at complaining, their cup is al- ways half empty, and they of- ten play the victim card. Most of us use avoidance as a strategy, this works some- times; we can't avoid toxic people all the time especially when the aggressor goes out of their way to intimidate or ap- proach you. Keep your com- posure, you are responsible for your actions. Silence and speaking up are two construc- tive ways to handle situations. My dad always told me to talk nicely to toxic people and say, "Are you okay, you seem to be having a bad day?" Most of these people will back down when confronted. This tech- nique can backfire too that's when silence may be the next step. Remember, you don't want to replay the situation in your head for days. Thinking I shouldn't have said that and I shouldn't have done this. Stay- ing silent is powerful and you will have no regrets later on. The toxic person has made themselves look like the fool, not you. Some of us on the other hand want revenge, you want to hurt them like they have hurt you. Acting on revenge is a bad idea it will only make things worse. This vindictive behavior, I'm going to win this game or war mentality, is a vicious cycle that causes serious damage. I prom- ise, you will feel horrible af- ter lowering yourself to such a level. Being aware on how we act can prevent an encounter from escalating. What is the right thing to do? We follow our values and beliefs as a way to handle sit- uations. Your values are your priorities and the things you believe are important. An ex- ample would be kindness, loy- alty, honesty and empathy etc. The behaviors we don't con- done are abuse, harassment, shaming and intimidation. By recognizing behavior that we feel is toxic — we all have different boundaries — we can take preventable mea- sures to protect ourselves. Don't take it personally. Their behavior is a reflection of who they are. Mean peo- ple are insecure and have un- resolved conflict in their lives. These behaviors could stem from childhood experiences or family conflicts. They act in ways that make them feel big and powerful, but in reality they are weak and need lots of love and compassion. The best way to respond to toxic people is to kill them with kindness. In other words put the fire out with water. Ev- ery time someone is mean to you, do two nice things. Tell a friend how much you appre- ciate them, open a door for a stranger or smile at someone. Being kind is the best medi- cine and you will feel great af- terwards. Don't allow them to take up space in your head. Try to push away any thoughts of the person and replace it with positive thought; this takes practice. Remember, you are amazing and you can over- come any obstacle that life throws at you. — Starlene Baker, Red Bluff Letters to the editor Was he deranged? Was he just angry? His act is unforgivable, as far as I am concerned, but in part, it has to have been triggered by all the knee jerk thinking and actions around us. GregStevens,Publisher Chip Thompson, Editor EDITORIAL BOARD How to have your say: Letters must be signed and provide the writer's home street address and home phone number. Anonymous letters, open letters to others, pen names and petition-style letters will not be allowed. Letters should be typed and no more than two double-spaced pages or 500words. When several letters address the same issue, a cross section will be published. Email: editor@ redbluffdailynews.com Fax: 530-527-9251 Mail to: P.O. Box 220, 728Main St., Red Bluff, CA 96080 Facebook: Leave comments at FACEBOOK.COM/ RBDAILYNEWS Twitter: Follow and send tweets to @REDBLUFFNEWS State and National Assemblyman James Galla- gher, 2060 Talbert Drive, Ste. 110, Chico 95928, 530 895-4217, http://ad03.asmrc.org/ Senator Jim Nielsen, 2634 Forest Ave., Ste. 110, Chico 95928, 530 879-7424, senator. nielsen@senate.ca.gov Governor Jerry Brown, State Capital Building, Sacramento 95814, 916 445-2841, fax 916 558-3160, governor@governor. ca.gov U.S. Representative Doug La- Malfa, 507 Cannon House Of- fice Building, Washington D.C. 20515, 202 225-3076 U.S. Senator Dianne Fein- stein, One Post St., Ste. 2450, San Francisco 94104, 415 393- 0707, fax 415 393-0710 U.S. Senator Barbara Boxer, 1700 Montgomery St., San Fran- cisco 94111, 510 286-8537, fax 202 224-0454 Local Tehama County Supervisors, 527-4655 District 1, Steve Chamblin, Ext. 3015 District 2, Candy Carlson, Ext. 3014 District 3, Dennis Garton, Ext. 3017 District 4, Bob Williams, Ext. 3018 District 5, Burt Bundy, Ext. 3016 Red Bluff City Manager, Rich- ard Crabtree, 527-2605, Ext. 3061 Corning City Manager, Kristina Miller, 824-7033 Your officials OPINION » redbluffdailynews.com Saturday, July 16, 2016 » MORE AT FACEBOOK.COM/RBDAILYNEWS AND TWITTER.COM/REDBLUFFNEWS A4