To the editor:

It is a sad thing when a father can’t say hello to his daughter, or a mother can’t stop and hold her grandchild because they work for the city of Lawrence.

Both of my parents work for this great city of ours and both are in the “public eye.”

I find it bewildering that there are people who would object to a hello or a hug between family members and friends.

I have always been courteous of the fact that my parents are at work and that they have a job to do, but if I come across them as they do their work or meet them on their lunch break, then I should be allowed to offer my father a hug and my mother a kiss without fearing the public will find it offensive or think my parents are slacking in their duties. My parents are hard workers, and they love their jobs but they love their family as well.

I just want to remind the public that though my mother and father have on uniforms they are still parents, grandparents and siblings. And as long as saying hello or offering that hug does not interfere with their duties then it should be no one’s business but their own.

We should all remember that uniform or no uniform, we are all people with families that we love. And also try to remember that that’s a person you’re looking at – not a uniform.

Joanna Meyer,

Lawrence