Coming to an
ER near you
The following takes place at an emergency room in the not-too-distant future. The patient must check in at one of several automated kiosks prior to being attended to by medical personnel. A middle-aged man with chest pains approaches a kiosk and presses a button labeled “Check In”. The machine speaks:
“Welcome to HADES, the Health Administration Department of Emergency Services. Please step onto the scale surrounded by an imaging device and look into the retina scanner. Thank you, number xx-xxx-2713. The body scan indicates substantial blockage in the arteries near your heart, a condition which, left untreated, will result in a fatal heart attack. This is unfortunate because your retina scan has disclosed that you are a registered Republican. Moreover, the IRS database shows a contribution to a Tea Party candidate. Your net worth is sufficient to pay a non-government facility for life-saving bypass surgery. Of course, such facilities are illegal, and traditional physicians have fled to warmer climates where they can ply their trade by treating the world’s rich and famous at market prices, less the cost of ‘tribute’ to corrupt government officials.
“Rather than moving you forward to triage you will be directed to a waiting area. We suggest that you disregard the magazines and find a copy of Tolstoy’s ‘War and Peace,’ not because of its content, but because it takes a long time to read. In the event that you do not expire, you will most likely complete the classic before you are attended by a health care professional.
“Please move to the waiting area now. A preliminary scan of the person behind you indicates that she is a Democrat on public assistance. Have a nice day..”
A lady with a broken fingernail steps forward.
“Welcome to HADES…”
— Bruce La Rue
Mt. Ulla

E. Spencer praise
I would like to thank the fire department personnel and police officers who serve East Spencer. I know these men and women could probably work anywhere they would like, but I’m thankful they have chosen to work in East Spencer. I know it’s not always easy because you don’t always receive the appreciation you deserve, but I am truly appreciative of each and every one of you.
God bless.
— Monica Evans
East Spencer

Mall central office?
Mr. Nurisso’s well-designed comments (“Beacons for education,” in Monday’s Post) concerning the perceived magnetism “inherent” in the ultimate location of the central office building were right on target. He understands that the “build it and they will come” fantasy exists only in Hollywood. Fibrant is proof of this myth.
Although I have no personal knowledge that anyone is even considering the mall site for the final home of the central office building, the idea should be considered. When you consider the cost of building from the ground up, the savings by putting the central office at the mall site would pay for itself as well as the $3 million dollars in needed renovations.
The transfer of downtown storage space and county offices might be a temporary detriment to the city, just as the transfer of 172 county workers from North Long Street to 329 S. Main would be at the detriment of East Spencer. No city should be dependent upon county offices for prosperity. True prosperity comes from bringing in more tax payers and tax-paying business such as donating the newly proclaimed, clean-site on 329 S. Main to an actual tax-paying entity.
This is about the county as a whole, specifically the west side. No one seems to be concerned about the consequences of the demise of Salisbury Mall and its occupants. Ultimately an empty, unsupervised multi-thousand square footage structure would quickly decay and morph into an eyesore and become the West-Side Empire Hotel.
Issues such as the location of a central office building, mediation and threatened lawsuits have overshadowed the Board of Education’s mandate to deal with other school needs far too long, needs such as a “fix” for the safety issues at Knox Middle School or rebuilding it altogether and the water concerns that continue to plague Woodleaf Elementary.
— Chuck Hughes
Salisbury

The writer is a member of the Rowan-Salisbury Board of Education.