Mums the Word
By ELVIRA SAKMARI
Updated 6:32 PM CST, Thu, Nov 19, 2009
The Southlake Journal may not be a big newspaper, but a recent article has caused some Texas-sized controversy.
It started with a Nov. 4 column from Dr. Cindy Ryan, a pastor and writer, who tackled the issue of oversized mums and the exorbitant amount of money people are paying for them.
Ryan suggested instead of paying massive sums for those massive mums, the school kids and their parents put the money toward programs that feed the hungry.
Ryan went on to point out, "Each outrageous mum represented to me 33 hungry children who could be fed for a month."
And as if she knew what was coming, Ryan tried to head off those florists and mum business owners by suggesting instead of sending an angry letter or e-mail they "get busy designing the cool ribbon or button everyone could wear instead which says, 'I banned a mum and fed 33 children.'"
Well that very Christian idea lead to some not very Christian responses from readers printed in a Nov. 18 column.
We have to assume the people who wrote in didn't expect their asinine comments to be printed in the follow-up column:
"You are what is wrong with society," one said.
"You do not have a clue about much… but then again, you are Methodist."
"Stop sending food and medicine; you are enabling them."
"We have starving kids because we are a nation cursed by God."
Wow. Really?
Here's the good news, Benjamin Singel, a 10-year-old in Grapevine, designed a homecoming button on the same day the original article was published that reads simply "I fed 33 children."
If nothing else, surely Ryan's article makes everyone think about how, even in a down economy, we still have places we can cut excesses and help those less fortunate. Or maybe not.
Tell us what you think in the comment section below!
More in the Southlake Journal: Ban the Mums, Feed a Child and More on Mums: The Debate Continues
First Published: Nov 19, 2009 2:40 PM CST
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