An act of Christmas spirit

Two days before Christmas Eve, I went to the U.S. Air Force Academy Base Exchange to take out my Christmas layaway from the store. Imagine my complete surprise when Denise, the cashier, told me someone has already paid for my layaway which was confirmed by her co-worker. Also, I was told that this same anonymous person paid for all of the Christmas layaways at this store.

This message is to thank the “Military Santa” for his kindness and generosity to all the military members and their dependents who benefited from this act of Christmas spirit. In all my years as a military daughter and wife stationed here and abroad, this has never happened to me and I am completely overwhelmed and at a loss for words. Truly this act embodies the very spirit of Christmas giving. Thank you, whoever you are, and may you be blessed for your thoughtfulness and generosity reaching out to the military community.

Ester Miller

Colorado Springs

Going beyond customer service

I would like to tell you a Christmas story. I ordered a tree for Christmas on Dec. 4 from Home Depot online and was told it would be delivered between Dec. 8-14, then was informed it was on back order. On Dec. 23 I emailed and gently reminded them the next day was Christmas Eve. They wrote back there was no way they could deliver it by Christmas and they were sorry but I could pick up a tree at the store on Academy.

On Christmas Eve morning I called the number listed in the email and talked to Anthony Chacon and told him I had just had surgery Monday and was not to drive for a week and that my husband does not drive anymore because of severe arthritis in his wrists and jokingly said it would be the first time in 60 years of marriage that we would not have a Christmas tree if we couldn’t get a nice Home Depot worker to deliver the tree to us. He contacted manager Kat Parish and to make a long story short, Gayle Pichard and Josh Blanton, Home Depot employees, not only delivered a bigger tree than I ordered but all the trimmings to go on the tree and three beautiful poinsettia plants and then proceeded to set up the tree and decorate it and put all the presents under it.

To top it off there was absolutely no charge. I just want to thank all involved.

Frances Wilkinsin

Colorado Springs

Messages elevated love and joy

As a 30-year, two war, combat veteran I salute Perkins Motors’ colorful, full page, Christmas messages in the Dec. 24 paper. It’s heartwarming to see the words God, Christmas, peace and Holy Spirit proudly displayed by one of our local merchants. At age 92 and a resident for more than 52 years I was beginning to fear that such openness was no longer a part of the Springs. Your messages elevated my love and joy in being a long time member of this community. Again, thank you and continue to spread similar messages for residents to dwell upon and enjoy.

John G. Ross

Colorado Springs

Limited view of political correctness

A recent letter (Political correctness so vilified, Dec. 26) asserted “political correctness is nothing more than showing respect for the feelings of another.” Such claims appear to arise from limited views of what PC includes, or deliberate attempts to put a false smiley-face onto it. True respect and politeness are voluntary, coming from within us because we feel kindly toward others. PC, however, isn’t from within or voluntary. It’s a social movement to oppress anyone deemed insufficiently polite or deferential according to arbitrary, daily-changing ideas of what is acceptable.

PC disciples are happy to be self-righteously impolite and disrespectful to those not toeing the line. And PC disciples aren’t ever happy. Where there is common decency and politeness, they invent micro-aggressions to feed their ire. But a micro-aggression is just as it sounds, microscopic. You have to deliberately magnify it and blow it up out of proportion in order to notice it at all.

H. Wayne Hall

Colorado Springs

Distortions come from both sides

This is in response to the Dec. 23 Gazette’s viewpoint “Please, voters: Let’s not be a nation of lies.” Most of your editorial was spent in casting Hillary Clinton as dishonest for her portrayal of the current Republican front-runner as providing excellent recruiting and propaganda material for the Islamic State (IS) with his anti-Muslim rhetoric.

If you are sincerely concerned that there be truthfulness in the debates, I wonder why you didn’t call out the Republican candidates after their last debate when nearly all of them blamed President Barack Obama and Clinton for not keeping us safe and for the rise of the Islamic State (IS). (Newsflash: Hillary Clinton has not been a member of the Obama administration for nearly three years, since she left her post as secretary of state in February, 2013.)

To blame Obama for the evolution of a radical terrorist organization in the Middle East where terrorist groups have been operating now for decades and where conflict and unrest have been raging for centuries is the epitome of dishonesty. If by making this accusation, the Republican candidates were referring to Obama’s oversight of the U.S. withdrawal from Iraq, after which IS rose to prominence, then it is an even more blatant distortion since Obama opposed the invasion of Iraq, a war that was sold to the American people by the Bush administration on false pretenses and is now widely viewed as having directly caused the destabilization of the region. In addition, the withdrawal of troops from Iraq had already begun at Bush’s direction by December of 2007, prior to Obama taking office.

I agree with your call for voters to reject dishonesty in the 2016 campaign; however, let’s be even-handed in calling out distortions on both sides.

Dave Seyfert

Colorado Springs