Hello readers – I’ve some thoughts I’d like to share: feel free to tell me I’m all wet, or that you think I’ve got the right idea.
High-tech requests for money.
I don’t know how many of you have encountered this, but while you are trying to pay your bill with a debit card at some of our local stores, you now get hit with a request on the card reader, asking if you would like to donate to a particular cause.
While I am all for supporting causes, I’m not supporting this.
I don’t mind when the cashier asks me if I want to make a donation (I have done this multiple times) or when there is a can on the counter. But to actually impede my transaction by forcing me to decide about giving another entity access to my bank account?
Forget about it.
The point of a debit-card reader at the checkout stand is to make the line move faster (and to aid those of us with kids and therefore no folding money.)
When hit with this request, I vote with my feet and hit “no” every time. I don’t even ponder what the cause is.
If you find this extra step toward paying your bill as annoying as I do, talk to the store manager.
Tell them to put the can back on the counter.
License your pet – or else
I’ve commented on this before – our county tacking a penalty on those people who probably can’t afford a pet license, but who have pets.
The penalty – totaling $75 – started April 1.
I’ve sided with the folks who have pets, arguing that it’s just one more strike against the poor, especially families who already are suffering in these economic times, and that it might encourage some to abandon their animals rather than paying yet another bill.
What is sad is the way the county is publicizing this. They’re calling it “a proven approach to enhancing pet licensing.”
From the purely administrative standpoint, I’m sure that it is.
From the standpoint of the most financially fragile of our residents, who already are suffering from cuts to human-services programs, it’s a proven approach to giving Fido to someone else, or a midnight drive to the country.
We need to give these people a break.
Make the penalty dependent upon household income, or waive it dependent upon circumstances. How much difference can $75 make to a bureaucracy, versus a family struggling to make ends meet?
A little compassion goes a long way.
Women’s football
Kent, which gained a foothold in the sports world for hockey (as opposed to a tenuous toehold for lingerie) now has another sports franchise in its backyard, and it’s worth a look.
The Seattle Majestics, a club of women who play real tackle football, will open its season April 11 at Kent’s French Field, against the Corvallis Pride. If you haven’t checked this franchise out before, it’s decidedly worth a look.
I went to one of their practices Wednesday night, and these women are playing ball just as hard as the guys. And they’re doing it while holding down jobs, raising families and all those other things that constitute a full life.
The best part is why they’re here: According to team co-owner Camille Head (who also plays wide receiver and defensive back) part of the reason they’re now in Kent and not Seattle is the great support when they got when they played a game here last year.
That says a lot about Kent – we like our sports, and we’re vocal about them. (How could you miss the bullhorns and the screaming that accompanied the T-Birds’ games on ShoWare ice this season?)
There’s another reason we should be giving these players an “atta girl”: They win games.
Last year they were undefeated (8-0) in the Pacific Northwest League and third in the nation, in the Independent Women’s Football League.
And they’ve got big hopes for this season, too, plus a roster full of returning players.
They’re also out in force doing their part to encourage girls to get involved in sports, as evidenced by their participation this week in “Girls Sports Day” in Seattle. They shared time with the Seattle Storm and Seattle Pacific University women’s soccer team to meet teens from across the region and talk about their sports.
Check out the Kent Reporter as the Majestics’ season progresses. We’ll be covering their games, as well as doing video stories on individual players.
Let’s make them feel as welcome as we did the Thunderbirds.
Kickoff is 7 p.m.
Talk to us
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