TNT letters: changing COVID restrictions, encampment ‘sweeps’ and the danger of Instagram

Perils of social media

Re: “Instagram is no place for kids,” (TNT 9/26).

The article makes a convincing case for adult supervision of what the kids are viewing on Instagram. Just as parents should be concerned about what kids are ingesting as food for their bodies, they should also be concerned about what’s being fed to their minds.

Perhaps some parents aren’t aware of what their children are being exposed to. If not, they should be - and if it’s something they don’t want them to see, explain why not. That’s one avenue of parenting; another would be to set a good example by examining their own viewing habits.

After all, to show our children the right way to go we should travel that way ourselves occasionally.

Norm Eklund, Puyallup

Vaccine house calls

We as a society are good at finding faults in our government, but fail to say thanks when the government goes out of its way to help common folks.

I want to say thanks to Pierce County Health Department for coming to our house to give COVID-19 vaccine shots to my wife, who was not able to leave the house. Both times nurses were very professional and pleasant. Thank you again.

Kiran S. Grewal, Puyallup

COVID guidelines

I often hear the sentiment that COVID guidelines and their changing restrictions are confusing. I view these attitudes as being more concerned with what we are allowed to do by law than by what we should do to slow the spread of COVID and preserve human life.

If tomorrow Jay Inslee announces that the mask mandate is lifted, would you go into Safeway without one? Despite the clear evidence as to what we can do to save lives, we are all too concerned with our own inconveniences to continue to do what is right.

I call for a self-imposed mask mandate.. I will continue to wear my mask in all situations outside of my family’s homes. I call you to do the same, if you care for the well being and life of your neighbors at all.

Calvin Christoph, Tacoma

Homelessness response

Re: “Tacoma cleans up homeless encampment along South Yakima Avenue,” (TNT, 9/23)

“What an uplifting headline,’” I thought to myself as I scanned the newspaper. I wonder what’s being made available to help clean things up? Garbage service? Cleaning supplies? Access to running water?

Then I get to the second paragraph:

“Crews arrived at the camp Tuesday morning to toss materials into dumpsters …”

So, they’re actually tearing it down? If my neighbor told me they would clean up my house while I was out, I certainly wouldn’t expect it to be gone when I got back. I’d think that “demolishes” or “removes” would be a far more accurate and less opaque description.

In fact, the entire article seemed to tap dance around the fact that over a dozen people were kicked out of the only place they had to go with less than a month’s notice. The only thing the city of Tacoma cleaned up that day was the sidewalk.

If the sidewalk is what you want to write about then keep the old verbiage. If not, then I say ditch the saccharine language and tell it like it is.

Henry A. Bader, Tacoma

This story was originally published October 2, 2021 at 5:00 AM.