Readers' Hotline 8/1/11

The pageant life
We wonder why girls in our society are plagued with bulimia, anorexia, teen suicide, and teen pregnancy, yet we condone activities in the name of beauty. It is a shame that we still put little girls on a stage and tell them that out of all the girls, only one will be the most beautiful. And sorry, other little girls, you just don’t meet our standards of most beautiful. So, take those wigs off and scrub off your makeup, remove your fake teeth and go home and try to get prettier, skinnier and longer hair. And, who knows, next month after mommy and daddy shell out hundreds of dollars for your next pageant, you might just be the pretty one… this time.

Saved the day
Since the Sept. 11 tragedy, the federal government has placed such strict regulations on fireworks. It was a sad, sad day in Fries when we learned that we do not have anyone qualified to shoot our fireworks off. A federal requirement is that the person in charge of the fireworks must be a certified pyrotechnician, of which Fries does not have. Mark Burnett of the Galax Volunteer Fire Department saved the day when we learned he is the only person qualified to shoot the fireworks off. Although he is responsible for the fireworks in Galax, he volunteered his time to come to Fries and shoot ours off prior to setting the ones off in Galax. Without him, the Fourth would have been a dud.

Let it grow
This is for the scalpers. How you mow your yard is unbearable for conditions in Southwest Virginia due to the drought situation. I have seen idiots scalp their yard. Come on. It is going to be brown. It’s going to die. Give it a break. Let it grow a few inches. It’s not going to kill your yard or your neighbors or your community. Think ahead, dummy.

Your day will come
About the senior citizen that is working and is slow and should be somewhere else  — to the person who put that in here, God willing, you will be old some day. Hopefully no one will feel that way about you. I am disabled and I would love to be able to work. So, shame on you again.

Hot and heavy
To the middle aged couple that was making out in the [restaurant] parking lot at lunch this week, please have some decency. Spare our children from your behavior and get yourself a room.

Fans need to grow up
I’m calling about the derogatory remark made about the Carroll fans and Carroll players. It is absolutely an untruth. I was at all but one game. There was no foul language. It was a very good game. Galax is not all mighty as some of the parents and fans seem to think so. I saw Carroll parents and players walking over and congratulating the Galax team. Some adults need to take a lesson from the parents and Galax adults need to take lessons from Carroll adults. What were we supposed to do, sit quiet and not root for our team? You and some of Galax’s fans need to grow up. It takes some mighty fine players to make it to all-stars and then to the championship game. Win or lose, they were all great.

Wasted prosecution
I was wondering if the county was aware or if the citizens were aware that the county chooses to take the time to waste on prosecuting people who already have 12- to 15-year sentences in the federal court system. Most of the time they drop those charges. Talk to your leaders and tell them not to waste any more time or any more money on things like where a person is already going to be spending roughly $350,000 by the federal government to be incarcerated, yet Carroll County wants to take the time to add a little more time to that and let the state government spend a little money on it. Sheer craziness.

Mix it up
I agree 100 percent with the Hotline message, “message overthrown.” I must attend the same church. Agreed, the young people are very important but mix a few old hymns in with the contemporary music. The seniors at this church are important also.

Cuba nominated
Reading your hotline, “ready to move.” This person was just a little bit wrong. Cuba has the longest-living people in the world today. Just a little mistake.

Blatant disregard
Why do people who are not handicapped park in handicapped areas in Fries? They are taking up the space for someone who could be or is. That’s what Fries is made of anyway, a lot of handicapped, elderly people. When you come around to the rec center and want to park in a handicapped place [others] are parked there. Don’t they know what the law is about or do they just have a blatant disregard for the law? They just don’t care. Somebody ought to check in on that.

Almost comics
Hey. That’s the first time I have ever been put on hold for the Hotline. Business must be booming for the Hotline. Thank you, Gazette, for making me happy because where I came from in the great state of North Carolina, we had comics. The Hotline is the reason I get The Gazette. This is my comic network. You don’t have to run comics because these people up here are real smart and they make me laugh. Thank you so much, Gazette. I love you to death.

Worn down
There is a certain [industrial employer in the area] that is not going to be happy until somebody dies or gets hurt really bad. The negligence is getting ridiculous. They are working people to the ground because they know there are no other jobs around.

Spruce it up
When is the city and/or state going to clean up the trash and cigarette butts along the concrete medians on U.S. 58 — specifically at the left turn lanes? Also, when is the city going to clean up the mess correctly on Cranberry Road between Glendale and 58 in the curve? There are low hanging tree limbs, dead tree limbs, trash and that curve across from the Methodist Church needs to be cleaned up properly. Just to go in through there and cut it up and just leave it laying and leaving the low hanging tree limbs was a poor job. Cut it, clean it up, clean up our roads and clean them up properly.

Lost faith
I’ve lost faith in the United States of America and I am a veteran. I don’t think America can win a war if they are fighting in the middle of Times Square scrapping with three or four old ladies with handbags. We would lose. The U.S. can’t accomplish anything any more.

Same old sound
We are sick of the same old bands year after year at Smoke On The Mountain. It is time for a change. Can they not get in some different bands for us to enjoy? Beach music has been run into the ground. We are tired of it.

Think about it
I’m calling regarding the plan that resulted in an ATF official being shot and killed. If you think that Obama should be impeached because one ATF agent who knew that was a risk when he joined the ATF died, then you are naive. If you go by that thought or reasoning, every president during a war should be impeached. And, every Department of Justice head who has ever instigated a war should be impeached. You are talking about one ATF agent dying versus how many hundreds of thousands or maybe millions throughout this country’s history. You really need to think about what you are saying.

Expect payback
There should be a special place in hell for anyone who could harm or hurt an old person, a baby or an animal. I don’t want to be in that place but there are going to be lots of folks down there.

Mandatory hookups
I read with great fascination the fact that over at Hillsville it has come to pass that you absolutely have to hook up to county water and sewage. Some 20 years ago my husband and I lived were fighting this. We had a wonderful well of delicious water. Soon you had to hook up and then you had the sewage. For people that are on fixed incomes as a lot of people over in that area off Virginia 100 were, it was just too much. Now it is mandatory. I don’t know what those people are going to do. My husband and I went door to door trying to get everyone to sign this paper that it was against the law, more or less.

No refunds
The remark was made in the Hotline that if you don’t like the Galax carnival, stay away. What about the ones that pay $20 and $25 each to get in? A little late then because there was no refund. They should try to get Cole’s Entertainment next year. They were at Wytheville and Dublin and it was well worth the drive and the money.

Available
It’s fiddling time. I’m just wondering if the pretty sexy little blonde that didn’t need a man last year at the fiddlers’ convention and was going through a divorce, if she needs one this year. I happened to see her at Smoke on the Mountain and she had an older man with her. I believe I could do better than that. Wonder if she would be interested in me?

Stake out the drunks
Saw a sign in front of the Galax Police Department that said, “drunk drivers kill.” If the police department is so concerned about drunken drivers, why are they not chasing the people that come out of a bar? All they need to do is have an officer sit and watch. They would be able to get a dozen drunken drivers off the road. This would save lives and gas. They know the hours of operation of the bar and the nights, and should know to get officers there. More drunken drivers would be caught than by having officers riding the roads trying to catch one. Let’s see if this is printed.

Good riddance
If Rep. Griffith can get the EPA shut down then he has done this country a big favor. I hope when he shuts them down that he also runs them out of the country.