Letters: Readers discuss a ‘Blithe’ good time, immigrants’ isolation and dead JoCo voters
Spirited fun
The new Kansas City Actors Theatre presentation of “Blithe Spirit” is captivating, clever and witty. Noel Coward’s 1940s farce is agelessly entertaining. Who knew a ghost could have such sex appeal?
By the end of Act II, the twists and turns will keep you guessing. It’s resolved in Act III with humor and surprise.
The performers are so good that it is hard to pick a favorite.
Good theatrical productions are alive and well in our hometown. Don’t miss an opportunity to enjoy this first-rate production, which runs through Aug. 26 at the City Stage Theater in Union Station.
Enjoy!
Alice Carroll
Overland Park
In my shoes
When you’re an immigrant, you are alienated from your language, culture, friends and family — but you just hope that each new day will be a good day. Whether it is good or bad is purely luck.
You make the best of what you have to make it in your new home. Your feeling of stability and citizenship is always threatened.
Your sense of alienation wins in a lot of circumstances: on birthdays, when you’ve made an achievement or at holy events. These special occasions are usually times of confusion, because the alienated do not know whom to celebrate these days with. Who will wish us well or congratulate us? Who among my friends will remember these days? It might be a day full of surprises, or it could be nothing — all by the chances of luck. That’s what homesickness does.
Alienation has taught me a lot of lessons about expectations — always to expect the unexpected. That is what it feels like to be an alien.
Wajeeh Lion
Kansas City
Working together
Shanterria Edwards, or Shae, was fatally shot Aug. 5. She was 26. Her death was one of six killings by gun violence in five days in the city.
But Shae is more than another gun violence statistic. We became friends while we were both working at a fast-food restaurant. Shae was a leader in Stand Up KC, the local Fight for $15 and a union campaign.
Shae inspired me to improve our community by organizing, protesting and going on strike to demand $15 an hour and union rights. That work continues. At 5 p.m. Thursday, Stand Up KC will host a town hall at Oppenstein Brothers Memorial Park, with Mayor Sly James and other leaders focused on the need for politicians to make it easier for workers to organize and grow unions in Missouri.
While I knew Shae, a lot of her own basic needs weren’t being met. She was homeless, sleeping in her car when she couldn’t find a couch to crash on. On top of that, upon turning 26, she lost her health insurance. Because her job didn’t provide benefits, many of her health issues went untreated.
Shae was determined to make people understand why she devoted so much of her time fighting for $15 and union rights. So although her time was cut short, my fellow workers and I are going to carry on her mission.
Bridget Hughes
Stand Up KC
Kansas City
Grave questions
Does Johnson County Election Commissioner Ronnie Metsker check all voters in Johnson County to make sure they haven’t died since casting their ballots? What are the circumstances surrounding such an instance he described to a meeting of the county’s commissioners’ canvassing board? (Aug. 14, 1A, “Kobach, Colyer loyalists battle over which ballots will count in close race”)
Did the person die as he or she was standing at the voting machine before hitting the final “send” to cast the ballot? Did someone vote for the dead person? How would the commissioner know this?
If I think I might die immediately after Election Day, should I not vote?
Are people who voted but whose votes don’t get counted for whatever reason notified that their votes were tossed out?
People need to know if there was a problem so they can fix the problem before the next election.
Susan Jarsulic
Shawnee
Silent tribute
I received my 2019 “Marines in Action” calendar from the Marine Corps Heritage Foundation this week. Each month depicts a photo of Marines, from World War I through the war in Afghanistan.
The photo for May depicts four Marines, each taking a knee before the American and U.S. Marine Corps flags. Only they weren’t protesting. They were kneeling, with heads bowed before a battlefield cross, paying their final respects to a fellow Marine killed in action at Camp Bastion in Afghanistan in 2012.
Semper fi.
Tom Karczewski
Kansas City