Letters

Send your letters to the editor to 
letters@atencionsanmiguel.org  
Atención will not publish offensive or defamatory material.

Editor,

On the afternoon of April 18, a fire that could have maimed or killed my wife and me broke out in the kitchen of our house on Callejon del Cardo. A defective pressure regulator on the roof-top gas tank combined with what may have been a short in the stove's ignition system sent three- or four-foot flames-with flame thrower force-straight out of the oven to where only seconds before the two of us had been standing, trying to figure out the strange noise the stove was making. 

The heat was so fierce that a telephone on a countertop nine feet away simply melted. The kitchen is a total loss, and there is smoke damage throughout the house and even into garden areas, where plants have died. 

I write for two reasons. First, to urge your readers to have the pressure regulators on their gas tanks checked regularly. I have been told that the gas company will do this for free.

Second, my wife, Bunny Serlin, and I wish to express our thanks to all who came so promptly to our aid: the Red Cross ambulance crew, who, though not needed, were the first to arrive; the police, especially the brave officer who climbed onto our roof to turn off the gas tank; the bomberos, who arrived seven or eight minutes after our call went out, put out the fire with great efficiency, and then remained to help clear away the water their hoses had left on our floors; and our Mexican and gringo neighbors who offered their comfort and assistance so immediately and open-handedly.

Austin Briggs


Editor,

Since I arrived in California I have been asking local restaurants' Mexican personnel if they are taking the day off on Monday, May 1. I never got any straight answer, only a nervous, quiet smile without much further comment. I got the feeling that those who had established jobs were a bit worried about the whole thing and did not feel comfortable speaking about it. 

However, I found out later that many of these people did participate in the demonstrations or did not go to work that Monday. For example, in San Diego, nearly as many as 25% of students did not attend school on this day; on a normal Monday, the rate of absences would be only 8 percent. 

In Tijuana, nearly 1,000 demonstrators blocked the border and would not let Mexicans drive to the other side, calling them traitors for not participating in the boycott and managing to force the US immigration officers to close all but one lane going into San Diego. Many local fast-food restaurant chains also had to close due to a shortage of laborers. Overall, I feel there was a good turnout; however, many immigrants preferred not to participate in the boycott. 

The strangest thing was this morning, when I read in the news that Minutemen are demonstrating and have started an anti-immigrant walk to Washington. 

It is amazing to realize that the Bush administration, in such a short time, has managed to divide the country between Republicans and Democrats, the world between Christians and Moslems, and now the people: American Nationals vs Immigrants. 

Michael Wiebach