Did you know your humble two-by-four is a myth? It’s time for truth in lumbering | Opinion
Legit lumber
Did you know that two-by-four boards are not 2 inches by 4 inches? Their real dimensions measure a half-inch shorter on both sides. In fact, all dimensional lumber is smaller than advertised. This mislabeling of important construction material is both confusing and pretentious. The existing system of classification should be amended to reflect true size.
A quick history lesson: Two-by-fours used to be an actual 2 inches by 4 inches, but lumber mills wanted to give the boards a cleaner finish, so they shaved off a half-inch. Why not just make the initial cut a half-inch bigger so when you give it a clean finish it becomes a true two-by-four?
Another solution could be keeping the two-by-fours at their current dimensions but changing their designation. You could call them one-and-a-half-by-three-and-a-halfs, but that’s just awful to say aloud. I suggest we use acronyms like the wood industry already uses to classify wood types. For example: SBB, for standard building board.
There have been too many times when I have made a critical mistake working with these false measurements. In our standardized society, there’s no reason for measurements to get lost in translation.
Deception makes me cry. Lumber shouldn’t lie.
- Griffin Sanderson, Blue Springs
Take the test
As a retired federal prosecutor, I can remind Rudy Giuliani that he has advocated for polygraphs to test people’s truthfulness. Perhaps it is time for him and his accuser, former Donald Trump aide Cassidy Hutchinson, to mutually volunteer to take lie detectors to see who is telling the truth about her allegation that he groped her.
- Rick Marien, Overland Park
Healthy diets
I have a chronic illness that requires a hyper-specific diet, and without proper nutrients, my health suffers. Without assistance from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program and Supplemental Security Income, I don’t know where I’d be today.
For decades, SNAP has played a crucial role in addressing hunger and poverty, but it does not currently help with nutrition security. For the sake of people like me with chronic illnesses, we must build on this success by investing in ways to improve access to healthy food. By doing so, we can help families move from junk food and frozen meals to eating more fruits and vegetables.
That’s why I traveled to Washington, D.C., recently to join other American Heart Association advocates in sharing our stories with elected officials in Congress. We not only urged them to keep SNAP strong, but also to make changes to the program to improve diet quality for everyone.
Covering tens of millions of people, SNAP and SSI allow individuals to provide food for themselves and their families while supporting their unique needs. Congress should prioritize and modernize these programs in the 2023 farm bill to help ensure that all people can live longer, healthier lives.
- Skyler Mangers, Lawrence
Dark pharmacies
I read with interest Derek Donovan’s Sept. 24 commentary “Are dark pharmacies, GM plant a sign that change is in the air?” about Kansas City CVS pharmacists calling in sick to protest working conditions. (16A) I got caught up in that fiasco. Not only was the pharmacy shut down, but my vaccine was canceled. The column confirmed what I had suspected.
The pharmacy turnover has been ongoing, to say the least. No longer do I see pharmacy techs. The lone pharmacist is filling prescriptions, answering the phone, ringing up sundries and administering vaccines. Everyone seems stressed. No wonder they walked out in protest.
Pharmacists want to accurately fill our prescriptions, answer our questions and look for possible drug interactions. Big corporations need to treat their human capital with respect and good working conditions. If only we could count on those businesses to do so.
- Susie Rawlings, Leawood