I’d like to address all the people who scammed my elderly parents in the years of their decline. My parents are gone now, but I am getting older, and so look backward to the scams perpetrated on them, and forward to the scams that are out there waiting for me.
So, to all those folks who cold-called my father and sold him worthless investments, an interest in non-existent gold and uranium mines, and “Limited Edition” commemorative do-dads, shame on you.
To all those nice young men who came by the house and told my parents that their driveway urgently needed “sealing,” their trees urgently needed trimming, their porch supports were just about to fail — and then disappeared (but not before getting a hefty deposit on the work), shame on you.
To the so-called financial advisers who sold them on bogus “financial products,” shame on you. To the insurance agent who convinced them to insure their very young grandchildren, and to the accountant who played on my mother’s vanity and charged her for every time he phoned her to let her know what a “special client” she was, shame on both of you.
And to the hundreds upon hundreds of robo-callers who insisted that the IRS was coming to arrest them, that their credit cards had been deactivated, that their grandson was in the hospital in a foreign country and needed his bills paid, that the warranty on their car had expired, or that they had detected a fault in their computer software, shame on all of you!
I heard one of the perpetrators of these scams interviewed on the radio the other day. “But it’s my job,” he said plaintively. Yes, this is the scam-economy, in which those who have spent their lives trusting that human beings were basically good provide for the well-being of those who believe that there’s a sucker born every minute. And shame on us, on all of us, for our collective willingness to allow it to flourish.
SUSAN WHITE
Norwich
I was traveling south on Interstate 89 a few weeks ago and spotted a solution to Dartmouth College’s biomass heating dilemma: the idled Springfield Power Co. (formerly Hemphill Power & Light,) wood-fired plant at Exit 12A. Dartmouth could buy and renovate the plant and put electricity into the grid to be taken out in Hanover. It’s been several decades since I received my electrical engineering degree, and my major wasn’t in power distribution, but I don’t see why it couldn’t work.
The hot water needed for heating could be generated electrically, perhaps along with enough electricity to supply campus needs. This would satisfy the NIMBYs in Hanover (the Not-In-My-Back-Yard contingent that recently opposed a large athletic facility and a church) and reduce the carbon footprint, as well as truck traffic in town, by kicking the problem 25 miles down the road (a favorite NIMBY tactic).
On another subject, I find myself partially agreeing with the writer of the Sept. 10 Opinion piece from the Los Angeles Times, “Consumers need to change their drug habits.” Why should it be the social responsibility of our nation to “fix” the consequences of every bad lifestyle choice people make by expecting pharmaceutical companies to create drugs to deal with them — which they are only too happy to do, at exorbitant prices, in their version of “better living through chemistry” — and then fine or sue them when they do? Why should the public pay higher insurance rates through private insurers or foot the bill through Medicaid and Medicare for avoidable lifestyle choices? It’s only a matter of time before fast-food chains are being sued by attorneys general in various states for serving non-nutritious meals.
That’s the main difference between conservatives and liberals: personal responsibility vs. societal responsibility.
WILLIAM A. WITTIK
Hartford
Northern Stage continues to inspire. At this very moment, Only Yesterday — bringing to life a little-known night when John Lennon and Paul McCartney became marooned in a motel in Key West — is off-Broadway at the 59E59 Theaters in New York City. From submission as a new work through its world premiere in 2018 at the Barrette Center for the Arts in White River Junction, and now to an off-Broadway run, Only Yesterday has been ushered to success by Northern Stage. With mixed emotions I must confess — Only Yesterday is sold out for the remainder of its run.
But an opportunity to celebrate the joy that Northern Stage bestows is fast approaching. At 6 p.m. Sunday, at the Barrette Center for the Arts, Northern Stage will launch its 23rd season with Lights Up Cabaret: Oh, the Places We’ll Go. Yes, tickets are $99 per person. But here’s what I think is in store for you: an original cabaret performance created and directed by Eric Love; if you’re the lucky one, a casting trip with Artistic Director Carol Dunne to New York City; if you’re really lucky, a walk-on role in The Sound of Music; and really top-notch food provided by Northern Stage’s culinary partners.
Finally, it sends a message to Northern Stage that we love what you do.
I urge an enthusiastic send off to Northern Stage for its 23rd season. It is our theater. Hope to see you Sunday night.
PENNY and STUART JOHNSON
Hanover