SEASON'S GREETINGS, AND SOME SERIOUS THOUGHTS ABOUT SURGERY

     When I was young, I had to wait till I was 21 to vote, but I could buy beer and all the drinks at age 18.  Then because so many young people drove recklessly when they were teens, insurance companies pressured politicians to raise the driving age, AND worse, raise the age to purchase alcohol to 21.  Perhaps because late teens were so reckless, they lowered the voting age to 18.  So instead of wrecking your car, you can vote to wreck the nation.

     At my age of 85, I think they should lower the drinking age to 18.  If you are old enough to be drafted into the armed services, and shoot people or be shot, surely you are old enough to drink a beer or order a shot.  But that does not mean that the late teens have the wisdom to choose the leaders of our nation.  For that, we should want a mature electorate.  So I suggest the voting age be raised a bit to say 65, when many will retire and have time to follow the political debates.  And this way we can have the wisdom of the many old Bidens and Trumps!  Or, is this a good idea?

     As of now, one must be 21 to order alcohol.  However, in some states, a 10-year-old, with encouragement from a teacher or counselor and a medical official, may pressure the child, without the knowledge of his or her parents, into making a life-altering decision.  In some places a child can be pushed into getting operations, which are not reversible, which will  require a lifetime of different hormones and other medicines.  A girl who goes through this will not only have her breast cut off, but will lose the chance later to have a child.  A boy will lose his bat and balls.  True, he may enter some girl's sports and set new records, but those new records by trans in girls' sports are fraudulent ones, just as the trans are not real girld; and the trans boy, not a real boy.  If they desire to join in sports, led there be a 3rd category of trans sports.  I strongly believe these operations should be stopped unless it is for an adult, or both parents and the child believe it is a necessary operation.

     Instead of trans operations, I suggest a solution  This year, Tuesday Feb. 13 is Mardi Gras.  Many folks wear costumes, funny, dull, whatever.  For a cheap one, I recall young men wearing bathing suits, and then they would glue and cover their exposed skin with Spanish moss, to look something like gorillas.  Trouble with that, and other costumes, if it turns cold. you may have to wear a coat atop it, ruining the image.  Not many gorillas wear overcoats.  As a kid, I wore an Amerindian costume, but it turned cold, and head to wear an overcoat so - well life has its disappointments.

     But to those who they are a woman trapped in a man's body, or a man trapped in a woman's, rather than surgery, try Mardi Gras for a day.  The boy can wear his dress and catch some beads to wear round his neck.  The girl can wear her cowboy outfit.  Or go as a Martian, or a Frankenstein monster or whatever.  Be someone else for a day, and have fun - after all, it will be Mardi Gras.  Return to reality on Ash Wednesday.  If you still have the urge to change, you can do it every year, for a day.  If you want it permanent, then you should wait till you are an adult.  However, whenever a person has such a life altering operation, there will be consequences, some unexpected. 

                    HUGH MURRAY