Letters to the Editor

Caring for Caregivers

November is National Family Caregivers Month

As 2020 moves into the holiday season and as the COVID-19 pandemic continues, let us take a moment to honor and support the millions of family caregivers who are taking on extraordinary responsibilities. Family caregivers include all of us, whether we provide services to our elders, our spouses/partners, friends or whether we are part of our children’s distance education. Twenty-Four/Seven, they care for those they love and help keep us safe.

To all family caregivers, we you are appreciated you for the love and caring you give others. Please remember that care giving can be lonely. Taking time for yourself is not selfish – it is necessary for your health. Stepping out for a walk or making a connecting phone call with a friend or having a bit of unscheduled time to yourself helps keep you strong.

During these times, we at Cambrian Homecare and Skills4Care are not able to conduct our support groups and meet with you personally. Yet, we understand your responsibility, now more than ever. We are providing free, online resources, namely, Caregiving.com, where you can read others’ care giving stories and join in for webinars and videos.

Additionally, you can explore Carely. (the website is www.care.ly). Carely is a free, caregiving mobile app that helps make communicating with families and friends about the care of a loved one easier.

As professional caregivers, we salute all family caregivers in our communities. May Thanksgiving bring you celebration of family and connection – in spite of distance and circumstance. Thank you and keep up your remarkable, caring work.

Rhiannon E. Acree R.N.
CEO/President –
Cambrian Homecare
& Founder – Skills4Care

Unconditional Kindness

Though we live in tumultuous times it is within our power to create peace through our everyday acts of kindness. Listen to others respectfully (or as psychotherapist Carl Rogers framed it, listen to others in a spirit of “unconditional positive regard”). This doesn’t require that you agree with the opinions or perspectives of others, only that you hear them in an attempt to understand their point of view.

It’s unnecessary to prove that you’re in possession of the truth; it’s not required that you fight until your opposition acquiesces; it’s damaging to us all when gratuitous pain is inflected upon another. Cruelty begets cruelty. When revenge becomes our purpose we become morally reduced and the pain that we seek to inflect upon another becomes our painful burden as well.

Genuineness and authenticity are other tenets in Carl Rogers’s humanistic approach to psychology. These are qualities that encompass being true to one’s self and honest when relating to others. In short, being kind – defined as the quality of being friendly, generous and considerate – is the pathway to peace of mind and the starting line for world peace.

If cruelty begets cruelty isn’t it reasonable to deduce that kindness begets kindness? When we share our smile with others, the smiles of others are typically shared in return. When we laugh aren’t those laughs often shared with others?

In this period of pandemics and social unrest we have the power to create peace of mind for ourselves and like smiles and laughter, peace of mind may become contagious and an antidote to social upheaval. Let’s infect ourselves with joy by injecting daily acts of kindness into our country, community and cosmos.

Ben Miles
[Miles is our theater writer and teaches critical thinking courses at West Coast University.]

Police Manpower Problem

I am a Long Beach resident who has had multiple packages and mail stolen from our secure building. I have reported this multiple times to the LBPD and have given a report.

I have since attempted to report information to LBPD as this same person has broken into our building three times within the same week at the beginning of November. The Long Beach detective who has been given this case indicated that they don’t have the manpower to tackle this case immediately and there are 40 or so cases in front of it.

I had someone on social media reach out to me and indicate this was a neighbor of theirs. I gave this all to the detective who indicated that it would be at least a month or more before they could even look into it.

I feel this is a newsworthy story since the holidays are here and more and more packages are being left in secure building lobbys and porches.

This person also has been identified as stealing from local buildings in the area. We have him on video, given multiple reports and a possible address and the LBPD do not have the manpower to investigate for at least a month!

Noelle Chalmers

Senator Gonzalez

I have read Mr. Ian Patton’s Letter to the Editor [Nov. 6 issue] several times. It is the most disgusting and deplorable letter to a newspaper that I have ever seen.

I do not know Lena Gonzalez nor is she my State Senator. Mr. Patton’s letter refers to Ms. Gonzalez as “stupid, ignorant, an idiot, a moron and dumb” 13 times in his letter. I think once should suffice. She is probably none of those childish names. Also, he chose to curse four times in his letter (Hell, whores, two references of excrement). Of course he cleverly disguised the two references to excrement with one * in each word. A child could figure out what he meant.

He also suggested she was drunk or taking narcotics when she filed the lawsuit. How would he know her state of mind when she filed it? In addition, he states, “Even prostituting herself to the oil industry to the tune of a million dollar independent expenditure.” When accused of this, can we have some explanation or detail?

Lastly, Mr. Patton dragged Ms. Gonzalez’s husband into his attack. How low can you go?

I think the Beachcomber should have used some journalistic license to not publish this letter or at least edit out swearwords, edit some “stupid” references out and edit the accusations without proof. I would guess most people in Long Beach have no idea what Ms. Gonzalez’s lawsuit is about.

Gary Hoover

[Editor’s Note: Gonzalez’s attorney sent us (and Patton) a bizarre “cease and desist” letter that we ignored; it was not a lawsuit. The document is posted online along with the original story: https://beachcomber.news/content/gonzalez-letter.]

Stay Healthy for 2021

2020 has been quite a year: devastating fires (e.g., Lake Fire), violent protests and a record-breaking heat wave. What about the COVID-19 virus?

A light shone in early November 2020: Pfizer made a 90% effective vaccine for COVID-19. Don’t throw away the masks just yet! Vaccines go through safety tests which can take years and it will not be available to everyone overnight.

A virus did not damage my gait, hearing and speech; a drunken driver hit me in 1992. I teach people to not drive drunk. My teaching continues. Prevent getting and spreading the virus until this vaccine becomes available:

Celebrate holidays with few people. Preferably, those you live with.

Use digital platforms (like Zoom) or postage mail to connect with others.

Watch religious services on TV or online. Gatherings can spread the virus causing illness or death.

Limit physical interactions with others. Wear a mask in populated areas and stay 6 feet away from others.

Avoid heavy drinking. If intoxicated, you are more likely to behave in ways that promote the spread of the virus and even drive drunk.

Hand washing is your best line of defense.

Lori Martin
Tracy, California

Social Media

We have a big tech monopoly that’s decided they’re the arbiters of truth. Hey, we are the American People. We decide who we listen to and not some lump sitting behind a console in a padded cage selecting their own or their boss’ agenda and discriminating against the people’s right to make their own decisions with all the information they want and need. No one else should be allowed to make those decisions. Nobody.

How in the world Congress and the courts are letting this happen is completely beyond my comprehension as a free citizen of what has been the greatest nation on the planet. Censorship must be stopped. Stop these clowns, now!

Vance Frederick

Mental Resources

An older white man showed up on our street yelling loud racist comments at some young black women just passing by. Neighbors say they’ve seen him before. Another neighbor, rightfully angered by this racist behavior, tried to chase him off, but with physical threats. Hey, we all lose our $h*t sometimes. And those ladies seemed very grateful.

I’m not sure what this older man’s deal is but if you are like me, you are wondering if there are non-police resources you can call. No excuse for racism, of course, but also seemed like a mental health issue to me and potentially could escalate to a fight.

So here is what I learned. You can call 9-1-1 and ask for the MET team. They will come out and help someone in a mental health crisis. Or you can contact. https://www.starsinc.com/programs/bhucc/ if the person can get there on their own or with your help they can get help right away.

Everyone is underfunded and understaffed, but Prop J just passed so fingers crossed for more police alternative resources in the future.

Mindy Friedman

Russell’s Hamburgers

If any of your readers enjoyed Russell’s hamburgers in Bixby Knolls, they’re going to love Cobian’s in Cypress. It’s a family-run business and Bernardo (who happened to be the chef at Russell’s) put up a great menu that any Russell’s fan is going to enjoy.

Tucked in right next to Los Alamitos Racetrack on Katella in the shopping center, it has got great Mexican and American food and is really worth checking out.

Frank Wallace