Letters to the editor

Issue of Sept. 12, 2008

Accidents waiting to happen

To the Editor:

I have been meaning to write this for a long time. I can procrastinate no longer. A recent incident that happened in a parking lot made this a priority. First, some background:

When one of my children was almost three, he fell out of a shopping cart and sustained a concussion. I had placed him in the main section of the shopping cart and reminded him to stay seated. However, at one point my attention was diverted away from him and, as I moved the cart, I heard a loud thud.

As a result I felt it was my mission to help others avoid this painful experience. Most of the parents I spoke to were very aware of their children standing and their children would continue to stand despite what I had to say. Since, no matter how I worded it, what I had to say was clearly unappreciated, and I soon stopped. Every once in a while I would gather enough courage to say something, particularly after I witnessed a similar mishap occur to another child a couple of years ago. I never quite found the right words as, over the years, the responses were usually the same: negative.

My silence never sat well with me as almost every visit to a supermarket finds at least one child standing in a cart with a parent happily strolling along. Often, they look as if they are balancing on a surfboard or, worse yet, they sit on the rim of the cart.

Today was probably the worst oversight to date. A mother was unloading her cart while her child (a two or three-year- old) was standing in the front child’s section. At one point the mother even moved her cart, with her child still standing, as she finished loading her trunk and prepared to place the child in the car. I shudder to think what could have happened if that child had fallen onto concrete. Therefore, I will try this venue to get this very important message across.

So much can happen in life — let’s at least try to protect each other when we can.

Ellen Rosenzweig

Woodmere

A chance to say thanks

To the Editor:

On behalf of the Chabad team –– and I probably speak for all the teams in the Five Towns Shul League –– we want to express our gratitude to Eli Dworetsky. He has given up his precious free time and dedicated himself to organizing a league of people who look forward to a good, old-fashioned softball game. Eli created the league so that working people can have a good time and have unity among all the shuls for a couple of hours every Sunday. Eli does not get paid to do this. He does this out of the goodness of his heart. We just want to say thank you! We really appreciate it!

Ely Baum

Chabad of the Five Towns