Irrelevant

So, Karen Smith is upset that her daughter was not allowed to play in a soccer tournament because of a nose piercing (Letters to the editor, The Chronicle, Oct. 10). What a catastrophe! Imagine an organization with established rules and regulations having the audacity to enforce them! What is the world coming too?

This is a perfect example of what has been described as “helicopter parenting.” Obviously Mrs. Smith and her daughter received little or no sympathy from the soccer league, so she is now trying to embarrass the people responsible for her daughter’s “humiliation” by contacting the media. What a great example she is presenting to her daughter! If the normal method of resolving grievances does not work, go public!

Perhaps, if either Mrs. Smith and/or her daughter were unaware of the jewellery rule, we could have a little sympathy for their situation. However, since the girl has been playing for years, and Mom has been an active volunteer, I doubt that this is the case.

Here is an idea that Mrs. Smith might want to consider: perhaps she could explain to her daughter that having her nose pierced was her choice and that all choices have consequences. In this case, the consequence was her being removed from the soccer tournament. As the ‘no jewellery’ rule existed well before her nose was pierced, it was her responsibility to confirm with the league before arriving with a pin in her nose; not to complain after the fact. That the piercing is small is irrelevant. That other referees have allowed her daughter to play in the past is irrelevant. That the rule may be too harsh is also irrelevant. If this rule is unfair, the proper way to challenge it is to do so before arriving with jewellery, not after.

Kyle Brown

Vaudreuil-Dorion



Only extreme patients cared for

Why would it take 11 hours to be seen by a doctor in an emergency room? What kind of mixed up priorities allows only one emergency doctor to be on duty overnight in a hospital that serves the entire West Island? What explanation can the triage nurse give to the daughter of an elderly woman with a bruised and bleeding chin, or to the father of a young child who had to sleep in a car until he could be seen? How would the people who were instructed to go to the emergency after car accidents know whether or not they were suffering from internal bleeding or shock?

On Monday night, Oct. 1, this is what I experienced as my own pain of an inflamed appendix kept me awake. Until the new shift starts at 7 a.m., only one doctor works in the overnight emergency, and obvious priority is given to the many ambulance arrivals. What kind of system has led to this?

How can we make the municipal and provincial governments do something to improve health care?

Thomas Powell

Kirkland

Thanks for a great picture

I would like to thank you for printing the picture of me breastfeeding my son Benjamin in your article about Breastfeeding Week. I am especially pleased because it shows me feeding my son easily, modestly and in public. As a promoter of breastfeeding and a breastfeeding mother, the greatest challenge many of us face is what to do in public. Many women do not feel comfortable breastfeeding in public because of other people's reactions to it. Therefore we are obliged to go to the bathroom and sit on a toilet and feed our children. Would anybody else like to eat in a dirty restroom? Breastfeeding is natural. It is the best thing for our children and should not be treated like a dirty little secret only done at home or in private. Breasts were made for this and we should all just accept this (like in most other countries).

So once again, thank you for printing my picture and showing me doing what is best for my son.

Rosalie Sarasua

Dollard des Ormeaux