Mailbag: That routine trip to Costco is anything but in the age of the coronavirus

I had to pick up a few items at the store recently and barely found a parking place to shop at a local market.

Inside the market was like bumper cars, only with shopping baskets. All the cash registers were open with long lines.

After I bought a few items, I drove to the Costco I usually shop at about twice a month in Fountain Valley for a few additional things.

I drove around for a long time trying to find a parking slot and observing people in their cars also waiting for an open spot.

I drove off without shopping there, thinking, “This is nuts, is it really happening?”

What I saw in people’s faces at the market, prior to my Costco run, could be phrased as either silent panic or muted trepidation.

Whatever needs to be done to expedite the elimination of the coronavirus nightmare hopefully will be accomplished in a timely manner.

Bill Spitalnick
Newport Beach

Shelter the most vulnerable

We need to make sure no one is left in dangerous conditions. It is a good idea that children are staying home from school and adults are staying home from work.

For those who do not have a home or work, they need to utilize homeless shelters, such as the Friendship Shelter in Costa Mesa, Project Hope Alliance and OC Gateway, so people can get off the streets in these times.

Joseph Klunder
Beijing

The writer is a former Newport Beach resident.

Better politicians stay out of the mud

To comment further on a subject raised recently in the Daily Pilot by a resident of Huntington Beach, let me add that I too think it is deplorable when candidates or those in charge of their campaigns resort to negative descriptions of their opponents or their opponent’s political party (“Mailbag: This is a time for everyone, no matter their political stripe, to pull together,” March 12).

Instead they should be talking of their own accomplishments and how they are improving or intend to improve the lives of those they represent.

Positive candidates do not need to resort to such smear jobs of their opponents. They are way too busy meeting with their constituents, authoring important legislation and representing them in their respective legislative bodies.

Costa Mesa Mayor Katrina Foley, Rep. Harley Rouda (D-Laguna Beach) and Assemblywoman Cottie Petrie Norris (D-Lagun Beach), are examples of representatives who are not only too busy, but also too successful to lower themselves to negative campaigning.

And Dave Minn, who also ran a very professional and positive campaign, focused only on his meaningful career and his aspirations for public life.

Lynn Lorenz
Newport Beach

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