Maybe the people would take our governor and mayor more seriously if they were consistent with their directives to stay safe.

We’re allowed to walk on sidewalks but not hiking trails. We are allowed to go the restrooms in our parks, but not allowed to park in the parking lots. Speaking of which, we’re allowed to go surfing and swimming in the ocean, but not allowed to park in the parking lots close to the ocean. We’re allowed to go swimming and surfing, crossing the beach to get there, but not allowed to walk on the beach. We’re allowed to have a drink in restaurant but not in a bar.

I’m all for social distancing, but it appears there is no consistency in what is allowed and what is not. Have the police ticket those who break distancing rules, but please allow the rest of us to exercise in peace. If there are bars and restaurants breaking the rules, shut them down, but not all of them who abide by the rules.

Wim Blees

Mililani

Americans can unite again for common good

During World War II, Americans were asked to sacrifice to help our nation in the war effort through rationing much-needed commodities — household staples such as sugar, butter, canned milk, coffee, meat — from 1941 until the war ended in 1945. The nation was united and willingly sacrificed because every American understood that this was for the common good, to help the nation fight against their common enemy.

Now Americans fight another common enemy — coronavirus. Once again, we as a nation are being asked to sacrifice in order to overcome this worldwide pandemic that has claimed thousands of lives and left recovered patients with severe and possibly long-term health problems.

Now is the time to pull together in that same spirit of sacrifice and aloha by wearing face masks, social distancing and avoiding large gatherings.

As one infectious diseases expert stated: “All you need to do … to help us all recover is wear a small piece of cloth. That’s asking so little. Or do you want to be the reason someone you love is in intensive care?”

Myra Taketa

Mililani

Unemployment office derelict in its duties

Like many in Hawaii, the coronavirus and the ensuing collapse of the Hawaii tourism industry has dealt a devastating blow to me financially. Despite being difficult, this blow is justified when compared with the human cost of inaction.

What is not acceptable, however, is the complete abrogation of the state Department of Labor’s responsibility to process unemployment claims in a timely manner. I have been waiting four months for my claim to be processed and I have received no contact from the department. There are thousands of others like me.

This is shameful in its own right. But what is more shameful is the silence from our elected officials and our media, which both have a responsibility to get to the bottom of this failure and advocate for the financial health and safety of the people of Hawaii.

Chad Fernberg

Waikiki

Postal workers union endorses Joe Biden

The National Association of Letter Carriers, which represents 300,000 current and retired postal workers, has endorsed Joseph Biden for president.

I guess President Donald Trump didn’t see that one coming.

Joy Schoonover

Waipio

Trump abusing power for personal agenda

I never realized how much power is vested in the office of president, until Donald Trump’s abuse of that power. Evidently our founding fathers, in all their wisdom, could not have fathomed that someday a person the likes of Trump would occupy the White House. Someone who would ruthlessly abuse this power to suit his personal interests. Someone who would disdain constitutional checks and balances, seek authoritarian rule, cozy up to foreign dictators and welcome their help in keeping him in power. Someone who would not even hesitate to undermine our beloved U.S. Postal Service to shore up his chances of re-election.

This abuse of the postal service to undermine our democracy and, in the process, disrupt all the many ways that people depend on the timely delivery of mail, should outrage and concern all of us. Is there no end to the ways Trump will go to implement his personal agenda at the cost of our national interests? There does not seem to be.

Ursula Retherford

Kailua

Fellow surfers helped pull man from water

Regarding the unresponsive surfer pulled from the water at Sand Island (“Surfer, 48, dies after he was found unresponsive off Sand Island,” Aug. 20): The impression was that Ocean Safety pulled him from the water.

I was there when it happened. Within seconds of the gentleman becoming unresponsive and floating face down, all of the surfers in the area responded to his rescue. Once the victim was on shore, surfers started CPR. Ocean Safety showed up 10 minutes later and took over. EMS arrived about five minutes after that.

If you ask me, the good people at Ocean Safety and EMS are all heroes on a daily basis. On this day, however, we need to add to the list the everyday people who reacted quickly and unselfishly to help a fellow surfer in need.

Mark Middleton

Pearl City

Women’s suffrage anniversary ignored

How disappointing that this paper did not deem it worthy to note the 100th anniversary of women’s suffrage on Aug. 18, when women won the right to vote in 1920 after decades of fierce battle for this basic tenet of democracy.

Maybe your decision was rooted in the stinky, fertile compost of our nation’s continued failure to ratify the Equal Rights Amendment (to afford men and women equal rights nationwide), proposed in 1923 and still not adopted by this country after a lapsed 1982 deadline.

With just a few years until the centennial of the first attempt to enshrine gender equality in our Constitution, I hope I don’t have to wait for that commemorative date to be equally valued by our leaders and media. And when the ERA is finally ratified I hope this paper provides in-depth coverage of this achievement, which should have always been a right.

Melody Heidel

Kailua

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