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Canberra Today 15°/19° | Thursday, March 28, 2024 | Digital Edition | Crossword & Sudoku

Letters / In praise of rude, old people

PERHAPS, to honour Father’s Day, John Griffiths might make R U OK? phone calls to, and even visit, rude, old people who are lonely because their friends have died, their bodies ache from a lifetime of hard work and they are unable to participate in the activities that so enthral your columnist (“Why are old people so damn rude?”, CN, August 4).

quillPerhaps he might remember that rude, old people worked a 40-hour week with two weeks annual leave.

These same rude, old people paid tax at a marginal rate of over 60 per cent so that their oldies were well cared for and roads could be built (by some of the rude, old people themselves before modern machinery).

Very few rude, old people could attend university as uni fees were not subsidised by the government, so many attended lectures and tech classes after work in addition to visiting their own old folk and shopping for their elderly neighbours.

At school, their classes had over 40 children with chalk-and-talk teachers who had few aids except the cane.

Rude, old people were also taught about Australians who had worked hard, many with bangles round their legs, under primitive conditions, in order to make Australia the prosperous country which we enjoy today.

Many rude, old people had done without in order to give their children the education which had been denied to them.

Rewa Bate, Coombs

Belittling the words of Jesus

IN this wonderful country we have been blessed in having freedom of speech.

Reading Helen Musa’s article (“Our Father, who art in Point Piper…” CN, August 18) on “The Chaser’s Australia” it’s just so unbelievable that Charles Firth would sink so low and dare to reinterpret the words of God Jesus Christ and belittle them so much! This is not the behaviour or attitude of Australians.

Such filth should not be given the privilege of being in your quality paper.

Angela Brecic, Flynn

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