More mail: Not exactly full of sympathy

Here's an e-mail from a gentleman not impressed with the grant of clemency to Richard Paey, the guy sentenced as a drug trafficker because he had amassed a large number of pills for his own chronic pain:

At age 37 I had a vasectomy WITHOUT anesthesia and as I watched the procedure, the attending nurse said, "I have never deen anyone, even with anesthesia, so stoic during surgery." Now I am too old to be tough, but 14 months ago I checked into the hospital at 8AM and had 2 inguinal hernias repaired; at 2PM I was in my car headed home. . . . still untouched in my cabinet are the Oxycodone (pain) pills that were prescribed. What am I saying? Although I have used ittle medicine, I am aware that there is punishment for illegal use, sometimes quite severe if bad enough. Anyone who regularly gets queasy over a little pain should certainly know that. One should be able to manage with legally prescribed amounts, and I have never heard of any doctor prescribing 700 Percocet pills. Thus this @/#*% idiot got exactly what he deserved. . . . until the clemency! -- Ol' Miller

Holy cow! And did you walk 20 miles barefoot through the snow to school as well? Different people have different pain tolerances. As to what Paey went through because of crippling past injury and chronic disease, whether it was just "a little pain," as you put it, I can't say.

Here's a reader's comment on the recent traffic deaths involving teenagers:

What in the world is it going to take to get parents to do their job?  How can they let their kids drive when they're certainly not being responsible?  If the parents don't know their kids have taken "their" car without their permission...well, duh, then maybe somebody should step up to the bat. -- Bonnie C.

Seems harsh to me, Ms. C. Even the "good" kids of "normal" parents sometimes do things they shouldn't. I am trying to think of any of my friends with teenagers who HAVEN'T been panicked or frustrated when their kid stayed out too late, didn't come home, rode with somebody they shouldn't, took a risk they knew they weren't supposed to ... I agree that some parents are irresponsible, but tragic accidents involving bad decisions by kids are not an automatic indictment of their parenting. I say this as a former idiot kid who spent a certain amount of time joyriding with equally idiot friends who liked to drive in the left lane around blind curves yelling, "Wheeee!"