Business owners thinking about kids

I am very upset at all the harsh words and misunderstandings aimed toward the business owners on Colby Avenue. I work at one of the stores. The owners and workers are concerned about the location of the clinic. That does not mean we think that the clinic is a bad idea. If people want to get help, that is great and there should be a place for them to get it. The road to recovery, however, has its ups and downs. We just don’t want those downs to be a block away from the high school and two blocks away from the library.

There are people doing crack, selling drugs and sleeping in that alley. Why tempt people trying to recover? The police have been called many times about these problems, yet they do nothing. Excuse me if I feel uneasy taking out the trash knowing I or the high schoolers walking the alley on lunch break could be accosted or propositioned by a crack head hiding behind the dumpster! It has happened before.

The business owners are not the cold-hearted, closed-minded people everyone has made them out to be! Comments like “I was once again saddened as well as angered by the small-minded bigotry of my fellow human beings” really make me angry. You who are putting them down for expressing their concerns are the small-minded freaks! Jumping to conclusions without the whole story! Just because the media paints you a picture dose not mean that it is a clear image. The business owners are merely concerned that the location of the clinic is not the best place for it, thinking of the teenagers, their employees, and patrons before themselves or the business.

Zabrina Graves

Everett