Dear Editor: Fear

Dear Editor,

The most recent furor from the East has many of us scratching our heads . . . I mean, filling trash bags with gasoline, if you can believe it! What could possibly motivate someone to do something like that?! I mean, how much sense does it take to know that’s anything but safe?! Even filling plastic totes with the flammable liquid is well past the limits of common sense.

So there’s a gas shortage, I get that, but why do some people have to horde it, knowing that means there may be none for somebody else? Do they just not think about it? Do they just not care?! I, for one, would like to believe that most people are better than that. I would like to think they really do care, that they just do stupid stuff like this because they’ve been bamboozled into believing that they must, for whatever reason.

Getting to the point here, the main reason for this kind of behavior is fear. Fear of what might happen if there is no more gasoline to be had (sooner or later), fear of how this will affect our ability to take care of our family & loved ones. These fears are not unfounded; these ARE very real concerns, but they should not be allowed to rule our lives to the point where we have become selfish, as well as devoid of common sense & decency!

To bring it home, to our cozy little community of Whitehall, for example; sure, we have our moments: during the first several months of the recent ‘pandemic’, it took some doing to find toilet paper & cleaning supplies (hand sanitizer, etc.) at our local stores. There were a few times when things got out of hand (COVID-19 Craziness), but issues were handled & look where we are. ‘Normal’? What’s that?! But seriously, we are blessed to live together in this little community where we look out for each other & aren’t so crazed by fear that we’re filling trash bags with flammable liquid. Thank you for listening.

Charles Haddon Shank

Whitehall, Montana