Open your door?
To the editor:
To Debbie McGee of Baldwin and all others who have recently written in to carp about the removal of the “homeless” in the Lawrence city park, I say, “Open your doors.” Why is there a homeless problem in Lawrence? You, the city who cried loud enough for John Edwards to hear you and return with a liberal agenda, you the city who voted to undermine the Patriot Act, you the city of tolerance. Open your doors and allow these homeless to enter your house. Leave a key down at the park with your address on it. Ensure your kitchen is stocked, your beds have fresh sheets and your cable is paid. Give them a home stronger than cardboard. Give them a place from the rain and the oncoming cold weather.
Take them to Dillard’s and guarantee they have a coat and gloves. Fill your car with gas so that they may have transportation and maybe open them a savings account down at the US Bank. Take the panhandlers from their bench in front of the downtown retailers to the nearest ATM and give them enough for a meal, a hotel room and admission to a KU football game. Please remember that when your young son or daughter is accosted or worse in the public park restrooms, that these poor people are simply “homeless.” To those of you appalled at the treatment of the homeless, open your doors or shut your mouths.
Robert M. Tyler,
Ozawkie