We get a lot of had written letters sent us—some of them 3 pages long. I sometimes wish
I could write back to every one. I wonder if they wait for a response. The (edited) letter below
struck me as particularly strange. It’s the PS note that got me.
Letter to the Editor:
As an Express reader, I have some concerns about what I see in your paper.
Tuesday morning I looked in your paper and what should appear? A nasty snake
on one of the pages. This is the second time I found such a revolting thing in your paper.
Many people are repulsed by such a picture and are afraid to ever see a picture of such a
repulsive thing first thing in the morning or the last thing in the evening. You want us to read
and relax on the train and buses—well let me tell you, it’s not fun or enjoyable to come upon
such a repulsive thing. Please consider not printing a picture of evil on such a nice paper. I
am one of many that hates those things,. If I come across another one—you can count on
me not reading it again.
PS. I also believe that some folks such as the metal-retarded—people with extreme mental
illness—could have a set back by coming upon that kind of picture. Heart Attack patients riding
the trains who are afraid to look at one could cause some damages. And don’t tell us to get over
it, it’s not that simple.
I wonder what she thinks of the Sneakhead fish. Maybe I should send her a pcture and
ask her what she thinks. They spotted one today
craig [email] said at 3:49 PM 04-28-2004: If that woman finds a snake repulsive or evil, then that is her business, not the papers, and perhaps she should niot, in fact, be reading the paper.
And why is a snake, an animal, a simple creature, repulsive or evil?
anotherben.. said at 3:53 PM 04-28-2004: fear of snakes is thought to be genetic leftovers. a healthy fear of things that can kill you apparently served well those who lived more than 10,000 years from the nearest medical facility.
marcia [email] said at 4:00 PM 04-28-2004: yeah, i see letters like this and i finally realize what a true phobia really is. It just surprised me. Her sincerity about it also struck me.
Oh, and below, i meant to write Snakehead, not Sneakhead.
cecil [email] said at 6:23 PM 04-28-2004: That is amazing. I am amazed she actually took the time to write a letter. I would love to see the world through this woman's eyes. A land of monsters and devils. I believe you could murder her with nature photography.
marcia [email] said at 6:44 PM 04-28-2004: no, believe me, this letter is very real. she gave us her name and address. we get letters like this all the time. probably some old lady...i have the original letter. i'll post more if you want. there was one entirely about janet jackson and how we were out to get her, etc and how incredible she is as a role model, etc. These letters are ernest.
marcia [email] said at 6:56 PM 04-28-2004: these snakes are such big news. they ran story after story about them in the Post the past few years. and they're draining a lake! damn! has anyone seen the sci-fi movie about snakeheads? or has that come out yet?
Bendependent [email] said at 7:27 PM 04-28-2004: marcia: dude, that letter was totally real.
ben: how you know?
marcia: cuz she left us her address to write back to and it's in crazy old lady scrawl.
marcia: seriously, we get crazy letters like this all the time.
ben: i used to write crazy letters like that from all sorts of people - sometimes in crayon from 80 year old marcia: would you put your address on them?
marcia: we can check this out. it only takes a moment.
ben: yeah
ben: all the time
marcia: we have crazy people who write us 3 or 4 letters demanding we publish their letter. it's nuts.
marcia: whatever, just cuz you're a liar jackass doesn't mean there aren't real people who actually ARE as crazy as you fib about being in fake letters.
ben: once i got 20,000 napkins sent to my address UPS and had to sign it as "Gil Fernwether" because I hand wrote a 5 page letter complaining about the softness of a company's toilet paper
ben: i know there's crazy people!
ben: but that one has a lot of clues to it that make it seem fake
marcia: nah. it's real.
ben: like the P.S. and the fact that she keeps mentioning the snake photo
marcia: well, that's the reason she was writing the letter.
marcia: it sounds real to me.
marcia: it's weird, once people start handwriting a letter--and i've seen this before--they tend to repeat themselves a lot--perhaps because they don't feel like rewriting the letter, and then once they start going, like writing, it starts getting more and more like a rant--they don't edit or anything. it happens time and time again. it's like they write stream of conscious.
ben: or want you to think that...
marcia: jesus, ben, quit being such a skeptic. just cuz you're a liar doesn't mean everyone else is.
ben: hahahahah
