Readers Write 10/01

TRANSPORTATION

Berlin has the model
Atlanta should follow

Nearly every day, there is an article in the AJC on transportation problems in the Atlanta metro area. Words do not produce action, and there appears to be very little action toward a solution. I recently visited Berlin, which has developed a most impressive train and bus system. Since the fall of the Berlin Wall, the system has been extended to include East Germany. Why not bring in some of those German transportation experts, and build a similar system in Atlanta?

During my visit, I was able to tour Berlin, go to a concentration camp outside the city, travel to Prague and stop in Dresden — all on trains or buses. My daughter was in Berlin this past year, and was able to get to work; her husband was able to do his research, and my grandson was able to get to school — without a car. All their travels were on mass transit. With a system like this, an increase in riders surely would result. E.K. Droege, Doraville

COMMUNITY

Michiganders thankful for Southern hospitality

I am writing this to say thank you to the citizens of Georgia, specifically those in the Atlanta area. After spending a long weekend with friends in Whitesburg, we headed out for the airport almost three hours before our flight time. Every turn we took brought us to a road closed by flooding. After driving for over an hour, we pulled into a parking lot to decide what we were going to do. A gentleman drove over to us, and asked if we needed help, and we explained our plight. He gave us the phone numbers for the local and state police so that we could find out what roads were open that would lead us to the airport. Then, a woman drove over to us and offered her assistance. She actually led us to the highway that would take us to the airport. Without the help of these two kind strangers, we would have been stranded.

Deana Miller, Cadillac, Mich.

WATER

Governor’s prayers more than answered

Gov. Sonny Perdue’s prayer meetings have finally paid off — but God has forgotten to turn off the spigot! H. Aaron, Forsyth

HEALTH CARE

Illegal immigrants ought to go to Tucker for help

I just finished reading Cynthia Tucker’s editorial (“Where did our compassion go?” Opinion, Sept. 23), and it was the first and last time I will ever read a piece by her. This piece should be titled, “Where did our common sense go?” She cannot comprehend why there are people who are not in support of paying into a health care system that benefits people who are here illegally. She goes so far as to say that this country is “stingy, so callous, and so xenophobic.” She tries to draw on people’s sympathy, but misses the point that these people are not just poor people who have been dealt a bad hand. They are people who have come into this country illegally. Providing them with these types of benefits provides no incentive for others to enter this country through the proper means, and encourages others to bypass the system, since they know they will be able to get something for nothing from this great country.

Perhaps the solution is having the illegals line up at Tucker’s front door — so she can personally take the responsibility she deems so necessary.

Bob Keeler, Alpharetta