_opinion_

Communicate While You Can By DOROTHEA F. COOPER There are many wonderful persons who. at about this time of year, have all their Christmas cards addressed, stamped and ready for mailing, whose gifts have been beautifully wrapped and tagged, ready lor their lucky recipients I am not one of those whose packages are gifts of art : the wrapping so beautiful that I feel a sense of remorse and guilt in tearing them apart. My efforts to surround gifts as things of beauty and a joy forever always seem to look as though they had been through rough treatment in five post offices — paper either too short or loo long and lumpy, ribbons crushed and untidy. \T XBOl'T NOW. I go through our address book to start thinking about Christmas cards, and each year am saddened at the names of friends who have been crossed out through the years gone but not forgotten. For many ex patriates, the obituary columns of their home-town newspapers are a main source of information. I must admit that I read them daily — not out of a sense of morbid curiosity, but lK-cau.se they are often the only link to those lar away with whom I came in contact through the years. Recently I saw the death notice of someone whose wife I vi as almost sure was one of my high school friends. I w rote her a note of condolence, and shortly after received a letter saying that she is indeed the friend who had moved to another state long ago. This was the Iteginning of a wonderful correspondence the exchange of memories of "evening companies" of young people supervised by loving parents as we danced to the music popular at that time, and were served homemade refreshments afterwards IT WAS X I'KKIODof two types of males: "collegiates" who wore bulky tweedy trousers and whose dancing part iters had to bend way backwards during the slow dances. The name of the other type of male escaped me. but my friend. Ann. remembered, as she told me in one of her let tors They were called "cake eaters" and wore trousers narrow on the leg. but which flared into foot-wide bottoms. These gentlmen were the hold-tight, pumping-up-and-down-arm variety, when dancing. What a pleasure it has been to recall so many happy times and to know that my old friend, even though she is somewhat, incapacitated because of illness, still retains her wonderful sense of humor and quick wit Her letters are a true joy I have a friend of 86 young years, who is not highly educated but who writes the most exciting and interesting letters which I eagerly wait to receive. I\ OI K VOl'Ntl DAYS, we had many friends whose parents spoke foreign languages, as in our home, of which the children often felt so embarrassed, but in later years were sorry that they didn't learn that second language Our grandfather and his sisters chatted on in French whenever they got together, but Grandpop gave up trying to leach it to us kids. Today I remember only two little French melodies he sang to us as we sat on his lap. Many people say they hate to write letters, perhaps because they feel frustrated by some sort of formality of rigid rules But a letter is only a way of talking with a friend, saying what you feel, in ordinary conversation. "I am in receipt of your letter of the 21st. instant, and am writing to say" went out with corsets and hairpins I had several years of Spanish in high schonj. and my younger sister decided to do the same, so that we could communicate with each other in secret ias a change from pig Latin. > But we found that by the time we had said at breakfast in lisping Castillian "Hagame el favor de pasarme el azucar." our brother had eaten most of the sugar on his cereal and was half way to school. Communicate — before it's loo late

fHaaVOgfButl T'uhl'ubrH Fverv WflWtttlV J Lower Township Pf I ■« 3WW1W Mn|nfiWw r. m. . » .t D A ** r yBII p j M1MI Of WC Ifa»~ii^j!o82l0 Cape May Cowrty Herald Joseph R. Zelnik Editor Bonnie Reina General Manager Gary L. Rudy Advertising Director John Dunwoody Special Promotions Director Darrell Kopp Publisher DEADLINES News & Photos Thursday Advertising Friday — 3 P.M. Classified Advertising Friday — 3 P.M. 465-5055 For News or Advertising Information Mail Subscription: Yearly. S40; Six Month. S20 Call 465-5055 For News, Advertising or Subscription Information Hrr^-rkpnttd Cape May CRy Edition of the Cape May County Herald II TjMI * ' " T -| — ' - | - - J r o. Be* 4M Capr Map CeeH How. N.J. 99910

* TWINKLE, "T\i)lNtCL6, LITTLE STAR UJAP5 -. . * Modern Medicine Barefooted At the Doctor's By TOM POKCII Remember what medical care was like in the old days? It meant going to the town doctor, a nice guy who had his office in his home on a quiet, tree-lined street He knew everything about the human body and whatever your ailment was he could make it better - whether you had money or not Modern Medicine is different. My first exposure to Modern Medicine came recently when I developed a hang-nail problem on both of my big toes Mother made an appointment for me with a specialist and drove me to the medical center 1 entered the huge waiting room, sat in one of the chairs and leafed through some old Wall Street Journals: then, tiring of that. I struck up a conversation with a chap sitting next to me who had a Band- Aid stuck on his nose -I HAVE X\ INFECTED nostril." he said, "and I have an appointment with the lower-nose specialist. I've been waiting for over four hours: it seems that the lower-nose man is being held up at his broker's office. There is some sort of crisis in the Commodities Market today. They have an upper-nose man here, but he won't see me. He says that it is outside of his field." I idly wondered why some enterprising young doctor hadn't staked out a claim on the middle-nose, but then. 1 reasoned, there probably isn't a lot going on in the middlenose - all of the action is above or below it. The receptionist called me to her desk to tell me that my doctor was ready for me. "You go down this hall until you reach the dead-end." she said, "then you take two rights and a left When you see a coffee machine you take a right and the doctor's office is the third one on the left " I ENTERED the office and saw the doctor sitting alone at a huge desk. He was a short, plump. Teutonic looking man with thick eyeglasses. He stared at me silently I went over to a chair at the side of his desk and removed my shoes and socks He gave my feet a brief, cursory glance and then resumed staring into my eyes, breaking the silence with: "Tell me. ven you vas a child, did you hate you fodder because his foots was bigger than your foots vas0" "Say. who are you?" 1 asked. ••frh bin Herr Doktor Jung Adhart. I am special doktor lor phcycom - vat you pipple call nutsy stuff Tell me. ven you take a pretty girl svimming. do you enchoy to valch her viggle der toes on her foots?" "I'm getting out of here." I said, reaching for my shoes The Herr Doktor beat me to it. grabbing my shoes and holding them behind his back "Not till you pay me my vif ty bucks, you nutsy foots guy!" he yelled BAREFOOTED and humiliated. I went into the office next door to see if I could use their telephone to call Mother to come and get me. I gave the nurse my name, hut before I could make my request she said. "We've been waiting for you and doctor is quite upset about it Do you realize that you area minute and a half late? Follow me " She showed me into the surgery I must, at this point, admit that this guy was a very fine big-toe man. He knew which little piggy went market, alright He had a confident air about him. a deft hand on the scalpel, and a magnificent stock portfolio that he described for me as he was working away The nurse provided me with a pair of hospital-type paper slippers. <$22 and change — not covered by Medicare > and Mother and I headed for home On the way I asked Mother to stop at the shopping mall to get me the ! biggest first-aid kit that the drug store sold. and. from the : liquor store. 1.75 litres of Jack Daniels With these supplies and a lot of luck. I might he able to keep away from Modern Medicine for awhile. I sure hope so • I (ED NOTE: Porch claims he is president of the Grouchy Old Folks Club in Sea Isle City.)

Our Readers Write Thornton Rips '. Ill-informed ■ Malcontents ' To The Editor: This is in response to Grace Bielkowski. secretary of the Lower Township Taxpayers Association. Needless to say . 1 was saddened by Ms Bielkowski s ill-informed and myopic comments in last week s letters to the editor | Her letter is meant only to misinform the public It is f painfully apparent why the taxpayers of Lower Township i are frustrated and angry with the rhetoric of six or seven congenital malcontents who. week after week, dominate the township meetings, continually making false and inaccurate public statements without the faets. For the secretary of the Lower Township Taxpayers Association to blatantly and intentionally misrepresent the issue is. at the least, irresponsible. MS. BIELKOWSKI falsely interprets the county tax rate In fact. Cape May County has the 18th lowest tax rate of the 21 counties in the state, and provides more social, educational, and health services than most other counties Lower Township receives approximately 32 percent of all county service because of the need generated by the large number of moderate-low, and fixed-income residents who have opted to live in our township. Many of the other municipalities that pay far more taxes than Lower receive less because the need is not there, or as great She does not mention the property taxes, business taxes, and jobs that are provided by the Cape May County Airport Industrial Park and the Historical Village of Cold Spring Prior to the county taking possession of the Airport. it was federal property paying no taxes. Cold Spring Village laxes were approximately $3,800 a year, which is more than offset by the tourist business that is attracted to Lower Township and the jobs provided by this facility. WHEN TIIK secretary of the Taxpayers Association intentionally fabricates stories to malign, discredit, and jeopardize a nutrition program at the Millman Center that serves more than 16.000 meals per year to the elderly in Lower Township, then this irresponsible behavior has gone far enough! Fact: The county is not responsible for the past management difficulties or the billing problems of the Lower Township Municipal Utilities Authority The issue of sewage cost and contractual agreement between the county and Lower Township is still being negotiated. But. of course, the uninformed secretary wouldn't take the time to get the facts! Ms. bielkowski. is without merit, making derogatory statements about the Lower Township Chamber of Commerce The Chamber of Commerce has always been a viable and integral part of Lower Township. These men and women of the business community have donated untold hours and money to enhance the quality of life in Lower Township for its citizens. FINALLY, it is very difficult to understand how anyone could be against programs that provide the necessary nutrition and socialization to assist the aged needy, and even those who do not have nutritional needs often have social needs that must lie addressed. As scientific documentation has shown, these programs help prevent the deterioration and institutionalization of those who reach advanced age. such as the program being proposed for the Chamber of Commerce Building. Therefore, again. 1 must question why the secretary of the Lower Township Taxpayers Association. Councilwoman Bieberbach and Councilman Lonergan have publicly voted against, and taken opposition to. this proposal I URGE all the citizens of Lower Township to attend your municipal meetings and functions, and not be misled by the babbling of the ill-informed malcontents GERALD M THORNTON Director Board of Chosen Freeholders

Do you have an opinion on this subject? Write a letter to the editor. Herald and Lantern. P.O. box 430. Cape May Court House. N.J. 08210. FREEZE! — Columnist Joe Zelnik. above, is on vacation this week, reportedly on temporary duty with Miami Yice.