An open letter to Kels Boreen, in response to his letter, “There must be a kinder way,” March 17 Journal, page 6.

Dear Mr. Boreen,
It was 4:53 p.m. on Jan. 12, 2010. A cataclysmic magnitude 7.0 earthquake occurred in Haiti. The earthquake’s epicenter was about 16 miles west of the country’s capital, Port-au-Prince; 230,000 people died, 300,000 people were injured, 1 million people are now homeless. It is estimated more than 3 million people have been affected by the earthquake.

An Inter-American Development Bank study, published in February 2010, estimated the cost of rebuilding the damage could be as much as $13.9 billion.

This is just a little something you can think about the next time you are jousted out of bed before your intended rise as the “diesel engines come to life, idling loudly in the cool morning air …,” or as you suffer from “unbearable noise levels that are comparable to a war zone.”

And furthermore, Kels, there is no doubt in my mind either you or I have firsthand knowledge of the sounds of a war zone and therefore should not use it as a comparison to anything regarding our lives.

Deal?

Sincerely,

Charlotte La Riviere
Friday Harbor