Letters: He helps Parking Authority workers tolerate abuse from the public

IN RESPONSE to intolerant comments directed at members of the public by a small number of Philadelphia Parking Authority employees, PPA brought me in to provide diversity sensitivity training for their employees. There is no room for such hostile and painful language, and PPA is committed to seeing a change in behavior.

Some of what I have encountered is expected in diversity training. However, I also received an education about the stress associated with working for PPA. I believe that many in the public would be outraged to know that 3 percent of the staff who give tickets have shared with me that they have been spit on by a citizen. One woman said that her response was to cry. Many are mocked by the public for supposedly being uneducated. Some people berate them with their children present. Some guys try to impress their dates by berating PPA professionals.

Their overwhelming response is to defuse the situation. They know that no one likes to get a ticket, but their jobs are about as emotionally challenging as I have seen. Next time I see them on the street, I am going to thank PPA for all that they do for Philadelphia.

David M. Hall, Ph.D.

Doylestown

Stupid court tricks

The court system personnel at 13th and Filbert streets, in their great wisdom, just sent out a jury-duty summons to my 96-year-old mother.

I don't think my mother will attend. I am waiting to hear back from them telling me that she won't have to make it. She might have difficulty getting there using her walker. Whoever keeps records in that department isn't doing a very good job. Is this the way the justice system works?

Charles Conway

Philadelphia

Yay, Girard; boo, Girard

First off, big thanks to the city and Girard Coalition for the still- ongoing sidewalk improvements along Girard Avenue. It really has made a huge difference and looks great.

My only issue is the residents living along Girard. Last week, workers began placing new trash receptacles at many street corners, and within 24 hours of installation people already were placing household trash in and around the trash cans. It looks like a garbage dump from Crease Street to Frankford Avenue on the east side of Girard.

Will this be the new face of the avenue - a garbage dump? Or will the city open a bag, find an address and fine the heck outta these dirtbags?

Jamie F. Gaughan

Philadelphia

Flowers, right or wrong

What readers like Celeste A. Morello do not get is that the Daily News is primarily a snide sports and entertainment tabloid. Most of us who subscribe to this paper do so for the humor and/or gossipy human-interest columns by its opinion writers.

Christine Flowers writes colorful, thought-provoking op-eds from the perspective of a religious conservative, a point of view sorely missing in most liberal media. She is also versatile enough to write an occasional sports column. It is just too bad for readers like Morello that she is not also a financial expert.

Gloria C. Endres

Philadelphia

Christine, a line has been drawn. It's time for you to choose. You claim to be a conservative, yet you seem on the verge of switching over to MSNBC because of comments by admirable, hard-core conservative women, all of whom would make far better presidents than Barack Hussein Obama.

There's nothing wrong with anything that Sarah Palin, Michele Bachmann or Ann Coulter has said. All of these women are conservatives and, therefore, speak the truth. Jerry Sandusky should be strung up, along with Joe Paterno, who was more concerned with legacy than protecting innocent children. The illegals in this country should be forced to leave. Why? Because they are here illegally! Coulter seems to enjoy annoying the left. So? She should enjoy annoying them. She should do everything in her power to infuriate them. The left's goal is to destroy the country; therefore, a conservative's goal should be to destroy them.

Pick a side, Christine. This middle-of-the-road nonsense gave us John McCain as a Republican nominee, and that, in turn, gave us Obama. Choose whose team you're on. You're looking for a good conservative woman? They're right in front of your face. And all of them stand strong on their conservative principles in the face of constant attacks, and all of them deserve your respect.

Stuart Caesar

Philadelphia