Letter to the Editor - Jack Coleman

Dear Editor,

For many of us the holiday season is a difficult time filled with a variety of stresses, feelings of guilt, or a longing for times past when life was simpler and Christmas was filled with childhood joys. The commercialization of Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas have added to the bombardment on our nerves. TV, newspaper articles, and the daily barrage of junk mail assails us to do more to help those “less fortunate” and modern political correctness constantly demands that we dig ever deeper “to give something back” to our communities. Advertising tells us we need to show our love by giving lavish gifts. We live in a society where we can no longer give enough to satisfy the perceived needs of others. Christmas has been bastardized into a guilt driven fest more pagan than the Winter Solstice celebrations of the ancient Druids.

Here and now, in Houston County, Texas, we are now assaulted by being forced to run trough the Gauntlet of Beggars outside our local branch of the world’s largest retailer. Beggar groups, approved by local management, are there to hound you when you go in the store and when you leave. Twice during this Season of Guilt, the behavior of the beggars has approached the boundaries of criminal assault. The most recent, when I ignored a fund-raising beggar who stepped in front of my buggy while shoving a plastic beer stein in my face and imploring “Won’t you save a dying child?” said to me as I walked past “That was cold.” I think the conduct of that beggar was outside the bounds of acceptable human conduct. A few weeks back a missionary group beggar stepped in front of my buggy to stop me. I bypassed him and again assailed with unkindness. I regretted not being armed as I feared for my personal safety. These two events demonstrate how far afield we have moved from the meaning of Christmas.

What are our options? Obviously, attempting to avoid the beggars doesn’t work. The beggars don’t seem to understand what ‘no’ means. New laws won’t solve the problem. The simplest solution that comes to mind is avoiding businesses that have beggars positioned at the entry ways.

Jack Coleman

Grapeland, Texas