Ingredients, letters and crime

Unfortunately or fortunately, all was relatively quiet in my area after the weekend of celebrations around the area. I have new neighbors that put on their own display of fireworks on the 4th; they were quite nice. Sandy, next door, rested after her exhausting stint with Riverblast and the rest of my neighbors went back to business as usual.
I’d like to take this opportunity to thank Bill Adams for his letter to the editor commenting on my column ranting about the lack of specialty stores and cooking ingredients in the area. It would be a dream come true if I could open a specialty food shop as he suggested; lack of funds stops me from doing just that. At his suggestion, I intend to look into the co-op with other foodies, chefs and restaurant owners in the area. Mr. Adams is correct in that the “Augusta Market” has pastries, produce and other things of interest but as he pointed out most of the produce is imported from other states, not locally grown and it‘s the same old same old. He also may not be aware that it is against the law for a person to prepare foods in their home kitchens to sell or cater to the public. If it were not, I would already be doing that. The internet is a wonderful tool to find the ingredients I seek, however, the point is that in a metropolitan area the size of Augusta-Richmond County, one should not have to. One should not have to buy seafood from Peru or tomatoes from Israel when we live so close to Savannah and the coast of South Carolina and our area is inundated with local growers that produce wonderful tomatoes, cucumbers, corn and the like. I really do appreciate the feedback Mr. Adams took the time to give yet I believe the point of what I wrote was missed.
How many of us remember trips to the doctor when a specific time for your appointment meant you were seen at that time? Or when a physician took the time to actually speak to you as if you were human? In this day and age of mass production, greed and medical personnel that are either over-worked or just don’t care; it is disheartening when one realizes they are just a number or a means to an end. Today’s technology should mean faster results when medical test are required and in truth, the labs to have a fast turn around. However, some medical practices are either too busy or just don’t care enough to inform the patient of those results. What about physicians who change medication or dosage on a whim then can’t remember what they told a patient because they failed to write it in the chart? What about physicians who will not return phone calls when a home nurse deems a situation an emergency or is too busy to take the time to see a patient in this situation and makes the suggestion to go to the emergency room instead?
The days of house calls are gone but the days of caring should not be. Instead of worrying about people in third world countries or lining their pockets or over-booking appointments, physicians should remember the reasons they became physicians in the first place; for the betterment of mankind. There is an oath for a reason; it would behoove some physicians to remember that.
Lastly, crime has come to my neighborhood. Saturday afternoon in the broad open daylight, a male person walking through our peaceful area, helped himself to a young man’s bicycle that was sitting on his porch. Public Safety responded quickly and there were two witnesses but who knows how far he got from the scene of the crime? It saddens me especially when I think this may be just the beginning. I guess with our city’s expansion crime will also increase. We just need to keep our eyes open and phones at the ready to protect our neighborhoods.