Letters to the Editor

No one advocates incivility or bad manners in public discourse or in heated, spirited debate. Robert's Rules is pivotal in the U.S. Congress or the British House of Commons. The Waynesboro City Council is neither.
Waynesboro's governance is more like the colonial New England town where friends, neighbors and relatives debate local issues in an open, transparent forum.
The City Council may be correct to limit public discussion from their citizens, visitors or just concerned people. Some commentators might perceive citizen response as improper behavior, while others may not.
Some may perceive the speaker on Monday last as a lecturer. I would agree. Again, rudeness and loudness are in the eye of the beholder. Many would disagree with these descriptive adjectives.
Let us assume, for argument's sake, that a speaker was practicing oratory. Any good public speaker must practice a degree of rhetoric in order to be effective. Lincoln's Gettysburg Address comes to mind.
No human being should exhibit personal behaviors unless these behaviors give them individual pleasure and satisfaction. Again, naming this behavior, or any human behavior, as at a sixth-grade level is in the eye of the beholder. Many would not. Quoting Lewis Grizzard shows you as an unwise person.
Anytime someone may be able to help you to build a better mousetrap, wisdom demands you give that suggestion a fair hearing.
Don't tell us how you used to do it in New York City. We do not want to know how you did it in NYC and do not care how you did it in NYC, even if these NYC experiences will help you resolve some issues in Waynesboro.
Is your quote in The News Virginian your definition of wisdom- Just wondering.
Yours Truly,
that damn yankee,
David O'Brien
Waynesboro
EDITOR'S NOTE: O'Brien is a candidate for the City Council.
Bias thinking hurts rather than helps

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In response to Jim Nichols' letter ("No excuses for bad manners here," Feb. 13), may I say while he has a few valid points, his approach borders on the supercilious.
The City Council is a forum for viewpoints by citizens on whatever subject they deem important, however they present it. Mr. Nichols used several hundred words patronizingly to let "certain" speakers know they didn't meet his criteria for presenting their viewpoints. Apparently it was less content than approach that Mr.Nichols found objectionable. I shall quote President Truman: "I never gave them hell. I just tell them the truth, and they think it is hell."
Further, Mr. Nichols makes it abundantly clear any suggestions, especially those that may come from anywhere else, especially New York City, is neither needed nor wanted. Anytime a possible solution to a problem is rejected because it comes from another source, it clearly demonstrates bias and lack of rational thinking.
Virginia is a beautiful place, and those who wish to move here for whatever reason have the right to do so, and as taxpaying citizens, they also have to right to voice their opinion without being given airline schedules. If Mr. Nichols believes so much in "social skills and grace," he might start by embracing other cultures and expanding his mind to include other ideas.
Barbara J. Bortle
Waynesboro

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Virginians aren't as friendly as some claim
Regarding Mr. Nichols' letter, I agreed with him entirely, up until his paragraph about good social graces and skills in this part of the country.

I am one of those folks who moved here from New York a decade ago. I don't try to tell anyone how it was in New York, until someone like Mr. Nichols brings it up. Although he states folks in this part of the country have a high regard for good social graces and skills, their refusal to use them should also be noted.

I commute between the two locations, so unlike many of those people denigrating New York, I am able to compare the folks in both places.

I get tailgated here daily, I seldom see a directional signal used, the only thing rarer than a smile on a stranger's face is a thank-you for holding a door for them, and I am regularly cut in front of at a cashier's line.
There's more, but I think you get the point.

Those things happen everywhere, but far less by New Yorkers than Virginians. If you find that unbelievable, you haven't visited both places.

Virginia is a beautiful state, but using better manners is a lesson that everyone everywhere, even here, needs to learn.
Loretta Hooper
Waynesboro