What is wrong with this state?

Bikers have a one-day event that brings thousands of toys to thousands of kids who would not have a Christmas if not for all the bikers. People complain about traffic and noise for a short time, but they should think about the kids instead of themselves for a change.

The bikers also have rides during the summer months to raise money for all kinds of different things.

People in a few cities and towns seem to have a problem with noise. Mike’s Grill in Gardiner can’t have outdoor bands because Gardiner has a noise restriction for bands. Even in the afternoon? Augusta has the same: The Red Barn can’t have a band outside for one hour?

And the best one I heard about was Richmond, where they apparently tried to make everyone in town mow their lawns on Sunday only between certain hours of the day.

Then the old Jake brake deal. Do people know that helps trucks slow down so that when they need the brakes they will be there?

What about the other side of the law? Gardiner’s Friday night football games break the noise restrictions, but that’s all right. Another lawbreaker is the fireworks every year. What about parades with the bands and firetrucks, police cars and rescue vehicles, with their horns and the loud sirens going on high. Another noise restriction broken.

This could go on and on, forever. I guess what I’m trying to say is just go with it. We just pay our taxes and the city says, what my father told me, “Do what I say, not what I do.”

Michael Atwater

West Gardiner