Mailbag: 9/11 serves as a reminder of who we are as a people

Thirteen years ago Thursday, we witnessed the worst terrorist attack ever performed on U.S. soil, losing nearly 3,000 innocent victims, many of them firefighters who rushed into disaster to help.

However, the beauty of America, and Americans ourselves, shone brightly through that very day and in the days following. Americans from all walks of life pitched in to help rescue survivors, continuing for weeks.

These people volunteered their time and their labor and sacrificed their health in order to save people they did not know, and did so with a patriotism that many said had not been seen since the attacks on Pearl Harbor, 60 years before.

These efforts proved that even in our busiest of cities, and in the busiest of times, we will drop everything to help a neighbor in trouble.

If there is one thing we can take away from this awful event, it is that we are a resilient and caring people. When it matters, we will be there.

Consider helping a neighbor in need this week. It may be hanging blinds you’ve seen sitting in a corner of the person’s house for a month. It could be taking a lonely neighbor out for a bite to eat or touching base with an old friend without having any particular question or favor to ask of the person.

We all have busy lives, but life is a fragile thing, and we only get to live it once. Love thy neighbor, and live life to the fullest.

Michael Glenn

Newport Beach

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Getting around could get harder

I live on the Balboa Peninsula, but my dentist and eye doctor are in Corona del Mar.

Contrary to the way it reads, Measure Y will add office, commercial and residential space to Newport Center, which will increase traffic on surrounding streets.

Add to that the traffic created by 368 condos in the Mariners Mile section of Pacific Coast Highway that are already allowed in the Newport Beach General Plan. Then add to that the proposed 1,375 homes and hotel in Banning Ranch. Then add the development at Bayside Drive and Pacific Coast Highway. PCH will be a contested mess, and I am afraid that it will be very hard for me to get to my dentist and eye doctor.

If an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure, I can only hope that in November, voters will see through the deceptive wording of Measure Y and vote no to prevent this traffic jam.

Elaine Linhoff

Newport Beach