It's pretty easy to avoid having to apologize

I just read "Apologizing invites lawsuits nowadays" (Letters, April 9), commenting on why the four culprits involved in the Lanikai egg-throwing incident cannot apologize for their actions.

The author wrote that it is "sad that our society is at the point where one cannot say 'I'm sorry' without suffering consequences. Honesty and integrity result only in getting sued."

"There is a solution to that predicament -- don't throw eggs, and no apology will be necessary.

"Honesty and integrity" exercised before the misdeed, and not afterward, would have spared the culprits from any "suffering." Lastly, an apology acknowledges, but does not erase, the consequences of a misdeed.

We all make mistakes in judgment, and when we do, we must suffer the consequences whatever they may be, apology or not.

Doctors do it because they care about people

Not all doctors are out for money. My mother is a nurse practitioner. I would ask her every night why she continues to work long hours, from early morning to the wee hours of the night. Sometimes she would do double shifts just so she could put food on the table and pay her loans on time.

Sure times were rough for her, not being able to come out to my extra-curricular activities and functions that I might have wanted her to come out for. But her answer was always steady to why she continues to work. She wants to help people who cannot help themselves. If we don't have doctors to help us out in our time of need, who will? They go through a lot of schooling to help you! They devote many hours out of their lives to help their patients.

My mom is definitely not one of those doctors who do their job for the money. If she did, she would move to the mainland where the pay is much higher and the benefits are better. So when you find yourself at a hospital one day and you are in your time of need, realize that those people who are taking care of you are doing this for your benefit. If ever you see my mom, Gwen Auyong, working at Queen's Medical Center, know that you are in good hands.

Vulgarity doesn't belong in theater

At great investment of time and effort, the Hawaii Theatre was finally restored to its preeminent presence in Honolulu. Recently it served as the venue for the presentation of the ennobling tribute to Hawaii's own 442nd. How unseemly then that the posters adorning the lobby heralded a coming attraction with a title properly relegated to a medical office!

The forerunner to such inappropriate billing was, of course, the outrageously named "V----a Monologues" of a few years back, which with great fanfare introduced vulgarity as an acceptable gimmick to gain fame and fortune for an otherwise undistinguished playwright.

Have we really so exhausted our reservoir of thought and social commentary that we must resort to what was formerly unmentionable to gain mention to all? When a culture becomes so deficient in word power and incapable of generating mirth that we take refuge instead in the enunciation of bodily processes, can we justifiably excuse it as "entertainment"?

Just let unwanted marketers prattle on

Mass marketing is getting out of hand.

Numerous calls solicit me for auto insurance. I do not own a motor vehicle, nor do I have a driver's license.

Repeated calls state that my warranty has expired, and this is my final chance. Many lenders call to lend me money. Do these repeated calls increase their sales?

How do I react? I do not hang up. I lay down my telephone and walk away, presuming the caller enjoys talking or just running out their tape. I encourage everyone to do likewise.

Djou should reject his city pay raise

City Councilman Charles Djou was recently quoted in your newspaper objecting to the city Salary Commission's recommendation to grant raises to various city employees, including City Council members (Star-Bulletin, March 29).

If Djou is so bent out of shape about this, he should refuse to accept any raise for himself or his staff, regardless of whether the commission approves the raises.

For someone who receives paychecks from the city (as a Council member), from the state (as an instructor at the University of Hawaii) and from the federal government (as an Army Reserve officer), Djou sure spends a lot of time complaining about the public employees who only get one check. And now he plans to run for Congress in 2010? Give me a break!

This seems to be a disturbing pattern with Djou, the same way he calls for city spending on sewer repair projects and recycling services in his well-to-do East Honolulu district, then always votes against the city budgets that provide the money and even crows about it while pretending to be a vigilant anti-tax watchdog.

The media need to stop giving him a free pass on this hypocrisy just because he is a convenient sound-bite machine to go to whenever there's something cooking at City Hall.