Responses from readers
John E. Peterson, Special to the Gazette
Thursday, June 25, 2009
This heading of “If I Had My Way” was given to me years ago by Ray Call when he was The Gazette editor. It was before I wrote these columns regularly, but I had written something and sent it to The Gazette. I had said “If I had my way” in it somewhere. Ray introduced it with that and it has stuck with me ever since.
I am something of an “If I had my way” person to people I do not even know. For example, during those nasty days of April, I met a lady on the street who said to me, “If I had my way, we would be having better spring days.”
I went into Graves Drugs to pick up a prescription, as I frequently do. As I got the prescription and turned to walk to the front to pay for it, a gentleman said to me, “If I had my way, John, neither of us would have to be taking these things.” At another time, a lady said to me, “Are you getting your way about anything these days?”
So! I get a big kick out of you folks using “If I had my way” on remarks to me. You would keep doing it, if I had my way.
Another big kick for me is from the responses I get from you lovely people about my columns. You know that I like to tell you about such responses because I do it periodically. This is another of those times.
One of these columns about microbes brought a quick response. On the Friday morning after its Thursday evening appearance, I got an e-mail from Tucson. It was from Gaylen Neufeld, former biology professor and chair of the department here at ESU. Gaylen is now retired and living in Hesston. I suspect they were in Tucson to visit their daughter, who is a medical doctor there.
Gaylen said he read The Gazette online. He had noticed that I had said that malaria was caused by a bacterium. He went on to say that it is caused by PLASMODIUM, which is a protozoan. Of course, Gaylen was correct. I was wrong. That response was a good correction of my error.
I am pleased to say this about that same microbila column. Dr. Lynette Sievert, a biology professor here at ESU, stopped in at my office to tell me how much she had enjoyed that column and that she learned from it. Both of those reasons gave me a boost.
I wrote a column about the wonderful tributes I had later received from former students during my teaching days. It appeared in The Gazette just the night before our April Retired Teachers luncheon meeting. Since I often have received comments about my columns at that meeting and since the people are all past teachers, I just assumed I would get lots of comments.
Well! I was wrong. I got only one comment. It came from Harold Hosey, former Emporia superintendent. Harol told me, as he passed by, that he wondered if I had broken my arm from patting myself on the back.
Perhaps all those former teachers felt that way, too. It may be that most of us do not like to talk about the tributes we get for teaching. And for affecting the lives of our students. Could that be true?
Actually, I had no intention of patting myself on the back. My purpose was just to tell some of my own experiences, to let everyone know how important teachers are to their students.
A few days later, a lady told me how much she had enjoyed that column. Her husband had been a teacher, she told me, and my column reminded her of the experiences he used to have with former students. So! Some of us must enjoy our tributes from former students — and not injure our arms.
Having mentioned the Retired Teachers luncheon reminds me of responses there — even though I only had that one from Harold Hosey at that one meeting. I usually do get comments at those sessions.
Dick Keeling told me that he, too, had been selected to make a microbiologist trip to China. He, too, was sorry he did not do it. Wilma and Walter Spencer often tell me how they enjoy my columns. Catherine Brown told me one day that she always liked my telling about Saffordville because she had taught there when the school was still going. And others have made responses to my column at those Retired Teachers meetings. I like it much!
In the column I wrote about a luncheon trip to Americus, I mentioned that one should drive up to the top of the hill on Road 210. It is just west of the Americus Road. A lady stopped at my table the next day and said she lived at the bottom of that hill. Another lady told me that General Pike had stopped on that hill on his way to the west. Do you believe that?
So it goes! I get responses to these trivial columns from lots of folks in lots of places. I try to make a note when I get one, but I do not always do it. So I forget many of them and who gave it. Though often I do not know the person giving me that response.
Responses are great! Even criticisms, since that is how I learn. You would keep making such responses, if I had my way.
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