Len Dawson wasn’t worried when he gave 9-year-old me his Super Bowl ring to hold

Dawson impressed

My mom, cousin and I flew to southern Texas to visit my grandparents during the 2000 college football bowl season. I was around 9 years old. Len Dawson was on the plane, sitting near us. My mom recognized him and said hi.

I only knew him from seeing him on KMBC (the news bored me at the time). I did not know about his pro football career.

He told us he was flying to broadcast a game. Before I knew what was happening, he asked us if we wanted to hold his Super Bowl ring. I stuck out my hand, and he dropped it into my palm. I remember thinking how heavy it was and being shocked at holding a Super Bowl ring. He was not worried — although secretly, I was. I looked at it for a second and very carefully gave it back.

He signed a piece of paper for us. I still have it. He was the most famous person I’ve met. I will always remember his kindness in giving a couple shy kids the time of day, and I will keep telling the story whenever I get a chance.

Thank you for the memories, Mr. Dawson.

- Ty Johnson, Lee’s Summit

Cleaning house

How wonderful that our FBI and the National Archives are helping Melania Trump get rid of all those boxes cluttering up Mar-a-Lago. National security papers — who knew? TC/SCI — maybe something related to a TV show? And wasn’t Emmanuel Macron supposed to come by to fetch the boxes marked “President of France”?

Well, good riddance to all that stuff. And thanks, again, to our paper-pushing bureaucrats who insist on enforcing the law, even at Mar-a-Lago.

- Linda Neal, Kansas City

In the middle

I had a recent discussion where a friend told me that being a moderate is the worst position that an American can have. How did we get here? Moderates are the last unifying factors on the political spectrum, and they are slowly dying because of the “you’re either with me or against me” mentality that has plagued this nation.

I consider myself a moderate. I like to think I can reason with people on both sides of party lines and find common ground through a friendly discussion, but that is all too rare now. Claiming that moderates — those who find mutual understanding — are the problem only increases the narrow-mindedness and division that exist today.

President Joe Biden ran on being a moderate. He ran on the reunification of the American people. Hardly have we seen that in our society. What is absurd is that I feel the need to mention I voted for Biden before claiming he could be doing something wrong.

I challenge anyone who reads this to speak to people on the other side, hear their arguments and understand where they’re coming from. Find a common ground. Don’t let politics rule your life.

-George Hart, Kansas City

Ticket tangle

I just read a letter to the editor (Aug. 18, 8A) complaining about the Royals requiring electronic tickets to enter the ballpark, as The Wichita Eagle described in the Aug. 17 commentary, “Buying Royals tickets a hot, sweaty, frustrating process.” (13A)

I want to support their call for the Royals to allow paper tickets, or at least explain why they can’t. I’m a season ticket holder who was forced to ditch my flip phone for a smartphone solely because that’s what the Royals required.

Surely there are others who would like to go to a game by simply buying a ticket.

- Tom Hall, Lake Quivira

More to do

Last week, the Inflation Reduction Act was officially signed into law. This bill does more for the climate crisis than any other in the history of our country. To put it in perspective, scientists around the world have determined that we need to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by half from 2005 levels worldwide in the next decade. The IRA is designed to reduce emissions in the U.S. by 40% by 2030, a huge step toward this goal.

You may notice, the U.S. still needs to get to 50% reduction of carbon dioxide by 2030 and, even more important, we need countries such as China and India to do the same. Experts believe that pricing carbon (while returning the fee to Americans) can achieve the U.S. goal. Putting a price on carbon also puts financial pressure on other countries to reduce their emissions. If we are serious about addressing the climate crisis, economists and scientists worldwide are pointing to pricing carbon as a critical step.

As a local leader of Citizens’ Climate Lobby and concerned parent of two, I am so glad that we have finally taken steps to effectively reduce greenhouse gases. Let’s finish the job.

- Jennifer Brown, Prairie Village

Dollar shrinkage

I went through the drive-thru for my usual breakfast fare. Can you imagine my surprise when I was told the dollar menu sausage biscuit sandwich now costs $1.69?

How is a 70% increase explained by supply chain issues? I call it fast-food robbery!

- Christopher Stanfield, Overland Park

A truer term

Ticketmaster’s policy of charging higher prices for concert tickets in higher demand is something it kindly labels “dynamic pricing.” (Aug. 11, 8A, “Short take: Springsteen isn’t walking the walk”)

I call it price gouging.

- Kathy Leclere, Kansas City

No comparison

Is the FBI persecuting Donald Trump? Let’s ask Fred Hampton.

- Robert O’Rourke, Leavenworth

This story was originally published August 21, 2022 at 5:00 AM.