"Time to stop being vicious, rude"

I got a big kick out of reading this letter in Friday's Moscow-Pullman Daily News, even though I was 2,000 miles at Graceland.

Wow! Another citizens committee: Sunnyside Neighborhood Association. How quaint to demand that land near or abutting theirs not be developed or sold because the association members don’t want to “lose” the character of their neighborhood.

I especially like the roar by the man who has recently moved to Pullman for retirement and is outraged that his “neighborhood’s character” will change. He hasn’t been here long enough to even know what his neighborhood’s character is.

If members of Sunnyside Neighborhood Association, College Hill Association, and the Pullman Alliance for Responsible Development had thought ahead, they would have realized that they should have bought all the land that they want to control so that they could have their private, personal and perfect neighborhoods.

To have more of these groups springing up makes it very clear why some people do not find Pullman a friendly, welcoming place. That is very sad, for there are lots of kind, helpful people who work very hard to make life as good as possible for all residents of Pullman.

As to the new complaint that an assisted living facility in the neighborhood would ruin someone’s retirement life, two points come immediately to mind.

First, if one is retired, how does one guarantee that he/she will never need the services of an assisted living facility?

Second, if someone needs assistance in daily life, that person is not going to be running about the neighborhood in a hospital gown mooning the neighbors or standing on a street corner drooling all over the sidewalk. Neither will such people have strobe lights, huge spot lights, or loud music on the lawn at 2 a.m. for a summer party.

Please, let’s stop being so vicious, self-centered, and rude. Let’s try to embrace change with common sense, compassion, and inclusion for all.

Burma Williams, Pullman

You tell 'em Burma!