Take care of each other

There appears to be an undertone of good people vs. bad people when it comes to vaccinated vs. not vaccinated. When individuals choose to receive the COVID-19 vaccine, they are choosing to protect themselves from suffering from extreme symptoms of the virus that could cause permanent organ damage or death.

It is clear that the vaccine does not stop you from contracting the virus. Both vaccinated and unvaccinated people are able to pass this virus on to others. The only difference is that the vaccinated person has a better chance of recovering.

Please stop treating those who are not vaccinated as though they have “cooties.” Please stop harassing them because they aren’t vaccinated. Instead, be concerned for their safety. Their choice to not be vaccinated endangers their lives, not yours. We have had to say goodbye to at least two from our Lahaina community. It is beginning to hit home.

If anything, emphasize the wearing of masks to protect yourselves and others. Follow the safety mandates. Take care of each other. Be considerate of each other. We are Lahaina.

MARSHA NAKAMURA, Lahaina

Actions have consequences

When a person decides not to get a Covid vaccine, regardless of the reason, it puts the health services we need out of reach for the citizens of Maui.

The hospital fills with unvaccinated people, and suddenly there is no room for someone in the emergency room with regular health emergencies.

Kaiser has just suspended all other surgeries, so if you need surgery, you are out of luck. The “I have the right to do what I want” crowd has just taken your place.

The societal cost of one person’s “freedom” to not take a society-protecting vaccine should come at a cost to the person making this choice — NOT to the majority of society that has taken the time to get the vaccine.

Actions have consequences. Each time one of the “anti-vaxxers” becomes sickened with Covid, their bodies end up being experimental factories for the virus — a laboratory where it works very hard to come up with other strains. So the “anti-vaxxers” inadvertently end up allies of the virus, giving their bodies for the science of Covid manufacturing and experimentation.

Is it any wonder everyone else becomes so upset at these potential Covid manufacturers? They put my child at risk, me, and the very fabric of our society — the hard-working businesses. They rob us of our ability to be together and to live good lives. This is in all honesty a crime against society itself. So, there need to be financial and societal costs to their actions.

SEAN LESTER, Kihei

Hating on each other is not helpful

It’s time to take a deep breath, I think. Perhaps a second, and a third, are also in order. I would suggest taking a “chill pill,” but unfortunately, too many are probably already headed down this path of self-medication. And the situation is not the least bit funny.

The stress is palpable. We have friends hating on friends. We have people standing outside of buildings, holding signs spewing the venom of hate, fear and divisiveness. The keyboard warriors are going 24/7 slinging arrows and throwing mud.

Please stop. It’s stressful. Believe me, I know. Like everyone else, I feel it, too. Our hospitals are at or nearing capacity. We see headlines telling us the threat of running out of oxygen in our emergency rooms is a real one. Our infection and our death rates from Covid are higher than they’ve ever been, and the victims are increasingly the young.

But turning on each other is not the answer, and only makes things worse — much worse.

We are all in this together. Remember that is who we are. In our community, we have civil conversations, even when we disagree. We take care of each other, and we look out for and do our best to support our neighbors and friends.

A high standard? An unrealistic pollyannaish dream? Perhaps, but it’s one that we should strive for.

We are not a community of “every man for himself.” That’s not who we are. This is not a place where “survival of the fittest and the law of the jungle” prevails.

And hating on each other has no place here. No place at all. We can be disappointed, sad, frustrated and perhaps even angry — but hateful words and actions have no place here.

So, let’s try a reboot. Let’s all take a deep breath or three and start our conversations over again, or maybe even not have some conversations that we know full well will trigger tension, stress and anger.

While we cannot and should not hide from tough decisions and hard conversations, I’m thinking we have had enough of them for today. By now, the vetting and venting of the pro-vaccination and anti-vaccination topics have pretty well been covered. Don’t ya think?

For myself and my family, we have been fully vaccinated, and we are staying home for now — a voluntary lockdown of sorts with a very limited bubble of outside contacts. Many in our community do not have this option and cannot stay home due to work or other unavoidable commitments. To those that must go out, wearing a mask and social distancing is an essential way to protect yourself and others.

Let’s focus today for a few moments, at least, on the beauty of the place and the people around us. Let’s remember how lucky we are to live here. Let’s remember to be nice to each other. And then, let’s shift to a proactive mindset focused on how we are going to beat this thing — together.

GARY HOOSER, Kapaa, Kauai

Fix West Maui’s power poles

We just had another power outage, and since it was a holiday, it took Maui Electric over an hour to even get here.

Our power poles here in West Maui seem to be — and probably are — about 100 years old. Everywhere we have metal poles on the island, but not here. Yet we are considered a “WORLD-CLASS RESORT AREA”… especially one intersection in Lahaina (Wainee/Lahainaluna) that has about a dozen lines strung all across, affixed to four poles that have been patched already half-a-dozen times. I’m surprised the whole thing didn’t blow up yet.

They have better equipment in Yemen or the Congo.

What gives? Is it THAT expensive? Somebody just drives against a power pole and bingo — two hours of darkness. An embarrassment for us, if you ask me.

JOHN BLAHUTA, Lahaina