 MAY 14 • 2020 | 5

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uppies are adorable. My 
wife fears cats. Canaries 
are messy. I’
ve buried too 
many hamsters to continue a 
love of them.
We all have our likes and 
dislikes in the 
animal kingdom. 
This fact, how-
ever, does not 
preclude us from 
drawing on our 
animal “friends” 
to help us make 
our conversa-
tions more vivid.
Have you ever warned an 
extremely inquisitive child that 
curiosity killed the cat? If he 
gets too curious about certain 
party plans, he may end up 
letting the cat out of the bag. 

As an explanation, he may say 
the information came straight 
from the horse’
s mouth.
Investigations may lead one 
to bark up the wrong tree, 
and you would be better to let 
sleeping dogs lie. Have you 
experienced neighborhood 
decay and felt that things were 
going to the dogs? Well, in the 
dog-eat-dog world, that is not 
uncommon. Trying to revital-
ize an area may lead you to feel 
that you cannot teach an old 
dog new tricks.
Never get so optimistic 
that you count your chickens 
before they hatch. In fact, 
there is danger in putting all 
your eggs in one basket. If 
you desire to stop a bad habit, 
maybe you should consider 

working on more than one and 
kill two birds with one stone. 
Remember, of course, that it 
hard to do anything like that 
cold turkey. 
If you feel awkward in a 
situation, like a fish out of 
water, then do something 
about it (without opening a 
whole can of worms). Don’
t be 
easily misled by a red herring. 

Conquering your fears may be 
like shooting fish in a barrel. 
You can do anything when the 
world is your oyster.
Yes, I have written about 
animals before, but few of the 
above references were reused. 
So, do not develop a pig-head-
ed attitude and start to think 
that I am only a one-trick 
pony. 

MISSED OPPORTUNITY
Your April 23rd article on 
Operation Gridlock missed the 
opportunity of providing empa-
thy for all those who are in the 
process of losing their business-
es, for those who lost the means 
to sustain their family and for 
those who have forgone neces-
sary medical care. 
 What about the increasing 
level of depression, suicide and 
child and spousal abuse that 
doesn’
t make the headlines, 
which is happening and will 
happen? Let’
s not forget the 
increased demand on and needs 
of local Jewish agencies due to 
the above suffering. 
 People are hurting and you 
focused on the poor choice of 
wording on a minority of the 
signs and assumed that the 
small group holding the Nazi 
imaged/worded signs were 

anti-Semites. It could be some 
were. The inappropriate mes-
saging was criticizing the gover-
nor’
s handling of the shutdown 
and its impact on people’
s abil-
ity to survive. You ignored the 
majority who were in their cars 
and following the safety rules of 
the rally with appropriate sig-
nage expressing their concerns 
and personal trauma.

— Eugene Greenstein

Farmington Hills

PROTESTS WERE VALID
The opinion piece (April 30, 
pg. 10) by Bob Matthews about 
Operation Gridlock missed a 
few important observations. 
Gov. Whitmer’
s restraints on 
personal freedom were among 
the most severe measures in all 
50 states. Her choices exercised 
her power rather than sci-

ence. President Trump’
s call to 
“Liberate Michigan” was direct-
ed at her overreach. 
Operation Gridlock protest-
ed the governor’
s trampling 
on Constitutional liberties. 
Matthews sympathizes with 
those who lost businesses, those 
who lost the means to support 
a family and with those who 
have forgone necessary medical 
care. Also deserving mention 
are increasing depression, 
suicide and child and spousal 
abuse. People are suffering. 
Operation Gridlock members 
stayed in their cars. (The report 
that they blocked a hospital 
entrance was rebutted by State 
Police.) People who were not 
members disobeyed distancing 
limits and some non-members 
carried offensive signs. 
Jews rightly object to Nazi 
imagery, believing it diminishes 

the real horror of the Holocaust. 
Why, then, was it acceptable last 
summer for Jews and rabbis to 
use the Holocaust Memorial 
Center as a backdrop, compar-
ing illegal-immigrant detention 
centers with Nazi concentration 
camps?

— Ronna Ross, Secretary

Michigan Jewish Action Council

THE JIG IS UP 
For years I escaped housework 
by claiming that making a liv-
ing exempted me from helping 
around the house. My wife, 
exceptionally kind and a little 
naive, went along without com-
plaint. This quarantine, unfor-
tunately, has opened her eyes. 
 With real estate all but closed 
down, my standby excuse has 
fallen on deaf ears. On Monday, 
my wife sat me down for a talk I 

continued on page 6

Sy Manello

