Letters | Don't blame airport for things it can't help

I work for the Division of Aviation, which runs Philadelphia International Airport. I very much disagree with John Depman's Dec. 6 letter, "Airport badly run."

He blames the airport for things that are the responsibility of others. For the smell of urine in garages and elevators, blame the crude passengers who urinate; for enforcement in the garages, blame the Parking Authority; for parkers on the road shoulders, blame the police; for upgrades to the waiting areas at concourse gates, blame the airlines that use them since they are responsible for that. Any jetway delays are normal and unavoidable since their positioning can only be done after the jet gets there.

There have been great improvements made lately (such as Terminal A-West) and many new projects are now in progress. Passenger traffic continues to grow. The airport is very much a source of pride. Look at it again with a more open mind and get the facts straight.

Gordon R. Callaghan

Philadelphia

I read Mary Anne Mazanec's Dec. 10 letter, " 'Simplified' life seems more like a selfish life," suggesting that articles that inspire readers to help one another would be more welcome on the front page than Chris Harne, who is living in a truck and working as little as possible.

It has been said that if you do a good deed and tell someone, it doesn't count. I'll add my own addendum: If the good deed inspires others to do the same, it counts double - so tell it.

When columnist Annette John-Hall mentioned in her Nov. 16 column, "Philabundance is falling behind," that the organization that collects food and feeds the hungry was seeking 110 turkeys, I called the ShopRite store in Roxborough. After speaking to a store representative who said they could supply the turkeys at an estimated cost of $1,440, I took the money to them immediately. Philabundance picked the turkeys up on Nov. 20.

I am an 81-year-old widow who is blessed to have outlived most of my relatives. For Christmas, I helped a church member who is working two jobs to raise her four young grandchildren without any financial support.

I would like to read about more random acts of kindness. I love reading about the good deeds of others.

Jean L. Robinson

Philadelphia

The ultimate objective in hunting is to put food on the table. Hunters, more often than not, spend hours in the woods, waiting and watching. The majority of the hunted go unscathed, on to live their lives in the woodlands.

How many of the thousands of animals in slaughter houses get that chance? They are herded in, lined up, and pounded with sledgehammers in the brain. Their fate is sealed. They meet their end in a cruel and barbaric ritual with no chance of survival.

All our our ancestors - yes, our great-grandfathers and their grandfathers - were hunters at some point, putting food on the table. City folk need to remember that ground beef does not grow in plastic-wrapped, Styrofoam packages. That juicy burger was once an animal farmed, fattened and brutally killed.

Harriet Lahr

Coatesville