Historic relevance is obvious

I always enjoy the quotes which you feature on your editorial page. You recently had one by Elie Wiesel that I think bears revisiting: "No human race is superior; no religious faith is inferior. All collective judgments are wrong. Only racists make them."

Mr. Wiesel, a Jewish writer and Nobel Peace Prize winner, lost his mother and younger sister to the Nazis at Auschwitz and his father at Buchenwald. I think that he brings a special insight to this type of reasoning, and it is especially applicable to the Trump administration's efforts.

Above and beyond

I was visiting my mother from out of town when this occurred. Just wanted to express appreciation and take a few minutes to applaud the efforts of a couple of Columbus Water Works employees over the holidays.

On Christmas Eve, three of five toilets were malfunctioning at my mother’s house. There had been an auto accident that knocked out a fire hydrant and shut down water service to the whole neighborhood. She called the water department and talked to the dispatcher. A technician named Felande Ross came over just as it was getting dark and looked at each of the toilets. He spent the better part of an hour, and then he said he would have to call his field services coordinator, Tom Blake.

Tom called my mother and asked her to turn on the upstairs shower for at least 20 minutes to release any air that may have been trapped in the plumbing, and then he would be over. Tom came over and spent an hour and a half of his Christmas Eve diagnosing the problem. He also pointed out a part that needed to be replaced in one of the toilets. He told me exactly what to do and gave me his card in case I had any problems doing the repair. When I encountered difficulty I called him and he walked me through the issue. This was the day after Christmas.

We were planning to have guests over Christmas day and the efforts Tom made saved our ability to do that. We are so grateful and feel the Columbus Water Works employees and Tom in particular, went above and beyond the call of duty. Too often, such efforts go unappreciated and we wanted to make sure this situation was called out.

Policy confusion

An article in the Ledger stated Council had set water regulations, something the Water Works used to do. I was never made aware that the old restrictions had been lifted — even numbered address on Mon-Wed-Sat, odd numbers on Tues-Thurs–Sun. No watering on Friday.

Now someone is suggesting only two days a week, depending on drought levels (and who you are, apparently). If this “policy“ is adopted, expect to soon see a notice from the Water Works that our rates are going up because we’re not using enough water.

Did Joseph Heller suddenly become a city employee? This is a Catch-22 if I ever saw one. I really would appreciate someone spelling out the watering policy so everyone could understand it. I try to stay within the guidelines, but I have to know what those guidelines are.

Spectacular

Thank you for announcing “Fiddler on the Roof” in the To Do Weekly Event Planner last month. The play was amazing, and my husband and I thank CSU's Georgia Repertory Theatre faculty, the talented cast, crew and orchestra for a fabulous show. Truly gifted Austin Winchester portrayed Tevye flawlessly, making us note that he is the best amateur actor we have ever seen. The play was comparable to productions at Atlanta's Fox Theater but had better stage visibility and much lower ticket prices.

Speaking out

I love how people here do not tolerate the right to voice opinions. Such as being stopped by possibly "undercover" people and "asked" what is meant on a sign. Their "questioning" is frequently done when they are holding a transmitting device.

Those in government do not like being told how you feel about their poor service. You get shoved around so they will not be bothered by you. Asking their reason for no response, you are told "CCG is not full service". Right. They simply take money.

What do people not understand? Do I not have the right to display a sign saying "metra sucks"? You do not like that. All the better. Unlike others, who tolerate outright legal violations such as parking on sidewalks, car windows too dark, drivers not displaying nameplate on buses, stopping between designated bus stops, I will inform their "management." After all, they will only contact either someone not associated with writer and "discuss" the issue with them, when it should be writer they contact. Or ignore your complaints regardless of issue, but reply to same issue when sent by others. To think we are the trouble makers.

This story was originally published February 7, 2017 at 2:48 PM with the headline "Historic relevance is obvious."