MAY 14 • 2020 | 5
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You Animal, You!
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P
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