So what would they say if it published this:

Second-Class Comments On Bus Service

 

Ms McKenzie (Second Class Bus Service, Letters, November 17) yet again derides the bus and lauds the tram.

 

Could she, as an eloquent English teacher, explain in terms simple enough for a simple engineer like myself to understand:

 

How there is sufficient room to get wheelchairs into cars, but not buses.

 

Why the recent trip for the disabled to the Sheffield Trams that she advertised used a minibus when she claims that a full sized one isn't up to the job.

 

And when is she going to realise that if the trams weren't designed for electric scooters, and buses were; and our roads weren't designed to make driving along them uncomfortable and slow and the tram tracks had speed humps and "potholes", and the full panoply of "calming" measures built into their routes: then her arguments would apply in reverse, only more strongly.

 

Or was Ms McKenzie perhaps not a teacher of English comprehension, but of "creative" writing?

 

In response to:

http://www.thisisnottingham.co.uk/displayNode.jsp?nodeId=102864&command=displayContent&sourceNode=65571&contentPK=7788894

 

English comprehension or creative writing?

http://www.thisisnottingham.co.uk/displayNode.jsp?nodeId=102864&command=displayContent&sourceNode=65571&contentPK=7947755

 

See - They do publish your letters.

I suppose it's the novelty/minority viewpoint/comedy letter of the week.

Just try living with a disability

Mr Mann (Letters, November 29) should get out of his car and try living with a disability for a day.

He would then realise that long-distance buses do not have purpose-built lifts for disabled people, adapted minibuses do..........

AGNES MCKENZIE

http://www.thisisnottingham.co.uk/displayNode.jsp?nodeId=102864&command=displayContent&sourceNode=65571&contentPK=7994641

 

Clearly not a teacher of English Comprehension then!

 

12 December 2003

Wrong again, Agnes

.........As ever, her letters are devoid of research and characterised by lack of knowledge.

She doesn't even know what I wrote in the letter she purports to be "replying" to!

I am well aware that buses aren't designed for wheelchairs and scooters, and that trams are.

As she obviously missed the whole point of my letter, let me repeat it for her benefit:

"When is she going to realise that if the trams weren't designed for electric scooters, and buses were; and our roads weren't designed to make driving along them uncomfortable and slow and the tram tracks had speed humps and potholes, then her arguments would apply in reverse, only more so?"

Neither does she seem to be aware that there aren't "thousands of disabled people" within wheelchair or scooter, never mind walking distance, of the average 700m-spaced stops.

Perhaps she thinks that the trams will have routes covering the city with thousands of stops.

Or perhaps that's what she wants readers to think, as well as having a "twisted" view of what I actually wrote.

B. J. MANN

http://www.thisisnottingham.co.uk/displayNode.jsp?nodeId=102864&command=displayContent&sourceNode=65571&contentPK=8107141

 

THERE'S NO FIRE WITHOUT SMOKE!


16:00 - 03 December 2003

I understand why doctors are trying to push the politicians towards banning smoking in public places. Medics are familiar with smoking related breathing problems.

The "ban" isn't likely to happen! But smoking is to an increasing extent being voluntarily restricted in many indoor venues.

There are restricted areas in cafes, buses, trains, hospitals, shops and other work places.

Pubs are likely to continue to be an exception to the "no smoking" rule, although they might have smoke-free areas.

Independent of "rules", I've noticed some people object to sitting or standing close to someone who has a gasper on the go. And some houses are nicotine-free zones. In the 1950s, you would get onto a bus and it was like walking into a London smog. Things have changed for the better!

MAX NOTTINGHAM St Faith's Street Lincoln