To the editor:
David Cade is being disingenuous when he says that John Lowe had a lot of friends and therefore the young man who ran over him as he slept in an alley should feel even more guilty than he already does. If John Lowe had so many friends in the Lawrence community, why wasn't he sleeping at their homes instead of in an alley?
The fact is, there are many John Lowes in our community and we have all failed them and continue to do so. As soon as the weather warms, the alley behind my house and houses through Old West Lawrence, will be dotted with homeless men sleeping in or near dumpsters, behind garages and so on.
I can't tell you the number of times my heart has stopped as I started to drive out into the alley, only to find someone quite unconscious there. It is not against the law to be homeless nor is it against the law to be drunk, stoned, or unconscious in public. One night a man passed out in my front yard and I called the police. They called him a cab.
Lawrence provides no place for persons with substance abuse problems to live. Any one of us could have hit John. Granted, the young man in question was wrong to leave the scene once he realized what he had done. But don't lay extra guilt on his door. We have all failed friends like John and we are all guilty of continuing to fail as a community.
Constance Lunn,
Lawrence
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