Dear Ferret Folks-
 
Yestrerday Sukie wrote:
 
>Be part of the solution!  If you don't write -- as is happening right
>now with too many of you -- then you inadvertently make yourself part of
>the reason that such bad standards will continue at farms, in transport,
>and at distributors.  Any time the USDA asks, "Who supports ferret
>specific standards to save ferret lives?" we have got to stand up and
>be counted....
>
>This isn't something anyone else can do for you.
 
Hmmmmmm.  I read that and I sat down for a while and I thought about why
it might be that some folks are not writing in.  Well, I happen to know
that for some folks, the thought of writing a letter is pretty darn
frightening.  I know a lot of people who don't feel that their writing
skill are any good at all.  Many haven't written anything longer than
an e-mail post or a shopping list since school.  Frankly, they are...
well...embarassed by their writing skills.  And now they are supposed to
write a letter to this APHIS/USDA thing?  I have several close friends
who are dyslexic.  Smart as whips, but they couldn't do it if you put
guns to their heads.
 
Sukie says "This isn't something anyone else can do for you."  Actually,
I can HELP you do it, and I WILL, if you will e-mail me what you would
like to say in your own words.  Don't freak out about the spelling or the
grammar, I can fix that.  I just need your thoughts, your experiences.
What would you like to say to these government guys?  E-mail it to me,
and I will fix it up for you, so it looks like a teacher did it.  Then
I'll send it back to you for you to read.  If you like it, just e-mail it
to the address I'll send along with it.  (I can't just send letters from
my e-mail over and over, that would look wierd.)
 
And I won't tell anybody we did that, because it's nobody's beeswax that
you asked for help.  It's fair and legal to do this, by the way.  If I
made it up it would be wrong, but if I just helped you get your own
thoughts looking tidy and professional, that's no problem!
 
Just e-mail me.
 
Thanks, Alexandra in MA
[Posted in FML issue 4974]