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Company needs to value customer service skills

I know Donald Burnette, not as a friend or even schoolmate, but as a former employee of Circuit City (April 5 news article, "Loyal to a fault").

I used to buy from Circuit City back when they were in Crossroads Mall. I finally stopped due to the single fact that they had no one in the store knew what the words "customer service" meant.

After years of avoiding Circuit City, I decided to look there for a HD big- screen television.

On this visit, it appeared they had changed, and I again purchased from them. That is when I had the pleasure of meeting Burnette. He went above his job title and made me believe that Circuit City had finally gotten it.

I was so happy with his true customer service, which is hard to find in today's world, that I e-mailed the company and told them that because of my excellent service, I would again be a customer of Circuit City.

Due to Burnette's excellent customer service, he was responsible for many more purchases from me.

Customer service equates to Burnette. My business will most certainly be laid off also.

When a company treats loyal employees poorly

How disturbing to read that Circuit City values profit over the loyalty and dedicated work ethic of its longtime employees like Donald Burnette.

Thank you for reporting his plight to your readers on April 5, "Loyal to a fault." Now, the community knows just what kind of business Circuit City is.

It is time to reevaluate their contribution to the Roanoke Valley and determine if we should continue to support a company that offers no long-term future to its employees and teaches our youth just entering the work force that hard work, loyalty and trying to get ahead doesn't matter.

Why bother, when you can do minimal work and still get paid? A raise in salary only guarantees you a boot out the door in time.

Next time you think about going to Circuit City, don't. Support a company that cares about its employees. What they will lose in sales in just one week would be so much more than the salary they were paying Burnette.

I am starting my boycott today and hope others will follow suit.

Rife with deception and retribution

The growing confrontation between the Democratically controlled Congress and the dysfunctional Bush White House bodes badly for much-needed legislation for the next two years.

Most Americans are weary of the Iraq war controversies and the never-ending parade of administration scandals. We want the government to deal with real festering problems at home.

The ill-conceived adventure in Iraq has diverted attention and funds from America's problems like affordable health care, protection of our environment, the growing cost of higher education, major trade imbalances and skyrocketing federal deficits -- to name a few.

Our military is stretched and fatigued. International respect and confidence in America are at new lows.

Much of this is due to President George Bush, who selects top officials based on loyalty rather than competence or experience. He is responsible for an administration that, together, govern without diversity of opinion, and with deception and retribution for those who disagree.

Our Constitution does not give us good options for removing an administration that ignores the will of the people. Impeachment is long and requires proof of illegal acts.

We are all going to have to get much more involved in the process of government to change what lies ahead.

Market takes the square

Roanoke needs the City Market. It does not need Center in the Square.

Build a better golf course at Countryside

We need to understand why Roanoke officials seem to think they know more than the two developers who passed on the Countryside project. These developers looked at it and decided they could not make it work.

A better solution would be to build the big inn they want on Mill Mountain at the golf course. Let's put some money into a class golf resort.

Then, all of a sudden, Roanoke will have a destination place that will bring in people to support the restaurants and retail establishments the city wants to build in the area.

Let it be seen from the interstate so everyone who drives by here says to themselves, "I am coming back here one day and stay there."

The residential building business seems risky right now and limits the area to a confined group.

A destination makes more sense for the long-term financial impact to the city, and it would provide a solid foundation to build on and expand revenue for a better return on investment than simple property taxes.

Abortion is killing America's labor force

In her April 1 Business section article, "Employers must no longer ignore aging work force," Teresa M. McAleavy from Hackensack, N.J., sets forth the problem of employers who have aging baby boomers and suggests some very temporary solutions.

The fact remains that Roe v. Wade in 1973 was a major factor in this labor shortage.

Since then, more than 44 million people were eradicated in the United States. This would have been the post-baby boomer generation and would have been a tremendous boost in the labor force, as well as for funding the Social Security fund.

Another factor in the labor shortage is the increase in the gay and lesbian community, disturbing the delicate balance of raising the next generation in the traditional family with both a male and female role model for the children.

Besides not accessing this normal flow of workers as in the past, think of all the disappointed potential grandmas and grandpas with empty arms.

Hitler destroyed 6 million persons. Women's choice has destroyed the generations since 1973. What a legacy. Now comes the haunting of America with the ghostly missing generations.

Roanoke hasn't taken care of the basics

While driving down Melrose Avenue recently, I certainly was appalled to see (and ride on) the terrible condition of that street.

Actually, I've noticed how badly many of the Roanoke streets need some serious redoing. As usual, Roanoke cannot get its priorities straight.

Why in the world is Roanoke going to spend a huge bundle of money for that monstrous art gallery and Center in the Square when there are more serious needs?

On another note, I wholeheartedly agree with Alwyn Moss in leaving Mill Mountain like it is (March 29 letter to the editor, "Mill Mountain is cool just the way it is"). We don't need a motel/restaurant up there either.

So get out and enjoy the pretty spring weather. Just try to not wind up in a pothole. Drive carefully.

Patients in need of more protection

I second Denise J. Swanson's letter to the editor (April 1, "Holding doctors accountable") challenging Dr. David Meincke's defense attorney Walt Peak's statement that doctors question whether they want to stay in medicine because of jury verdicts.

What Peak knows as an attorney is how hard it is to prove negligence. He must not care about the people injured by doctors' negligence and that they can't prove their surgery went wrong because the laws of standard care and neglect protect the doctors, not the patient.

You shouldn't have to die to prove neglect, and Peak as a lawyer knows this.

Who pays when surgeries go wrong? It costs the patient, his or her insurance and the government when that person has to go on disability.

No family should have to endure the pain of losing loved ones or watching them suffer because of mistakes made by doctors and, in some cases, no one is held accountable.

I too have learned what Peak knows and should speak out about, and that is, the standard care and neglect laws need to be fixed.

We need a patient protection bill to hold doctors accountable.