Let the children play
As a grandmother of three grandkids nothing brings me more joy than to hear them giggling and enjoying a swim in the pool. The speaker in the last City Council meeting condemned children for having fun in their pools. Asking kids to stop having fun is not an acceptable state for island living.
We are not a retirement village or national park. So any comparisons to those make zero sense.
Marco Island is a city. A city for all ages. It may be a shock to some, but we have children of all ages that live here. Go to school here and want to enjoy their lives on Marco Island. The intolerance towards children is really unacceptable and downright offensive.
Do any of you remember riding your bikes until the streetlights went on when you were kids? Do you remember the fun you had with your friends and family in your pool playing games and enjoying the great outdoors?
Put yourselves in the shoes of the children who are the future of this island. Let them enjoy their childhoods. Allow them the ability to live a carefree childhood that includes time in the pool. Consider that the Florida climate is not conducive to children playing outdoors in the heat of the day. Evening is the time that they can safely enjoy a game of catch or Marco Polo in their pool to cool off from the heat of the day.
It may be Marco Midnight for the older generation at 9 p.m. but most kids are completing homework, getting home from lessons or sports games; 10 p.m. in the evening is a reasonable time for nighttime quiet hours. That is what makes sense in most Florida communities. We don’t need government overreach telling us that 8 p.m. is bedtime by those that have no children and don’t understand family life today.
Kids should have the ability to enjoy their backyard pools without fear of retribution by nasty neighbors calling the police.
Fiona Winter, Marco Island
Do better, Marco Islanders
I am truly appalled at the recent online cyberbullying against Marco Island City Councilor Schwan. It is not OK for the trolls of Marco to personally attack Councilor Schwan – but to do it under aliases to hide their identities is disgusting.
If you have something to say proper discourse is to write a letter to City Council or the papers discussing the specific points that you disagree with or come to City Council and speak up. It is never appropriate or American to take cheap shots and discuss the councilor’s deceased child as a way to retaliate against her actions on City Council.
Instead of focusing on the issue and debating the points these bullies resort to personal attacks to intimidate those who have a different opinion.
It’s disgraceful, shameful and shocking. Online bullying and intimidation is a full-time hobby on Marco Island. People with too much time and nothing productive to do become online trolls. There are so many charities and volunteer opportunities where you can use your time in a positive way. I’ve never seen such low life comments from people who are former CEO’s, business owners and supposedly salt of the earth god-fearing people. Their online behavior is closer to that of thugs. God will judge your actions harshly.
City Council Chair Palumbo needs to speak up at this disgusting behavior and focus on proper decorum and civility. Do better Marco Islanders. Your behavior is nothing short of shameful.
M. Freeman, Marco Island
Why is this happening?
Like many Americans, I agree violence should not be the answer to our disagreements, political or otherwise. You’ll notice, I didn’t say physical violence. I mean violence in all forms; physical and rhetorical.
What recently occurred at the Washington Hilton was abhorrent and should alert all of us to a clear and present danger in America. Since our country’s founding, violence has been our cornerstone, that rock upon which we’ve built our nation. It’s just fundamental to who we are! Whatever or whomever we haven’t liked we’ve waged war against. That’s how we’ve developed as a nation and many of us are damn proud of that “fight, fight, fight mentality.” Sometimes however, that attitude can come back to bite us.
There’s no need to revisit all the past human atrocities that have occurred in America since its inception; to realize we still have a “big” problem with how we value human beings. Many of us talk incessantly about ‘the right to life’ but apparently that entitlement is reserved solely for the unborn, because it appears in practice, that as soon as we are born, the rules change.
As a citizen of a so-called “Christian” nation, I can barely recall the last time I felt the love that Jesus espoused from another American. What I do notice are a lot of unfriendly faces and unkind behaviors. Why? That’s the culture we’ve created.
We speak harshly to one another, abuse each other, watch violent films, play violent video games, engage in violent activities and we love it! Now, we even have sports like slap boxing, where opponents stand and open-hand slap each other until someone’s knocked out or cries for mercy; car jitsu, where opponents fight in mid-size sedans until someone’s rendered unconscious; chess boxing, considered a hybrid sport, where opponents play chess and box each other intermittently until someone either gets knocked out or reaches checkmate; phone booth boxing where opponents stand up, punch, kick and knee each other until someone collapses from the punishment, and we can’t forget the more traditional fighting like the ‘octagon’ where fighters battle until they pound each other’s ears to cauliflower and choke each other until somebody passes out.
Those sporting events represent the “tip of the iceberg” as to the multitude of violent activities Americans find entertaining. It all brings to mind the old saying, ‘I went to a fight and a hockey game broke out.’ Matter of fact, according to Hockeyfights.com there were 306 fights in this last NHL hockey regular season. In contrast, they claim there were only two fights in the 1938-1939 October to April regular season, which is a far cry from professional hockey’s best fight season in 1987-1988. That year they really displayed their anger and had 939 fights! And you know what, they were all recorded and votes were even tallied, rating the best fighter in each fight. So, the next time we hear people in the media or in the local grocery stores asking, ‘What is going on in this country’ and ‘How did we get here?’ We’ll just smile, because we’ll know the answer.
Lance C. McCormack, Marco Island
This conservative is appalled
We are longtime conservatives who continue to be appalled by this administration. The latest atrocity is the recent arrest of dozens of veterans and their family members, including elderly and disabled activists, participating in a peaceful protest to Trump’s illegal war with Iran at the Capitol in Washington!
The irony of this is the January 6th attack on the Capitol encouraged by Donald Trump where several Capitol police were beaten, deaths occurred, and the Capitol was entered and desecrated by many protesters. Arrests were made of many of these right-wing criminals, who were later all pardoned by Donald Trump when he again came into office!
We just hope we live long enough to see our country governed by moderates who obey laws, respect the Constitution and to see our country again respected and not hated by our allies.
Gwen Baker, Marco Island
WHAT’S ON YOUR MIND?
Letters can be 275 words or less. We reserve the right to reject letters or edit for clarity, brevity, good taste, accuracy and to prevent libel. No poetry, personal attacks or letter writing campaigns. We cannot accept handwritten letters. Submissions limited to one letter every two weeks. Include daytime phone and sign your letter. Email to news@naplesnews.com.
This article originally appeared on Marco Eagle: Letters to the Editor, May 5
Reporting by Marco Eagle / Marco Eagle
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
