Garen Yegparian
BY GAREN YEGPAIRIAN
There are a few things I’d like to bring up with those who take the trouble to read my articles.
Thanks, for reading, of course.
I do wish more people would take the time respond, tell the world (me included) what you think. It’s so easy, especially with so many people reading on line. Just post a comment. It would help me understand what people are thinking. More important, it would give everyone a better sense of what the prevailing ideas, sensibilities, opinions, etc. are within our communities and nation.
Happily some people do respond. Otherwise I’d be tempted to believe no one is even reading. Others, those who happen to know me personally, will sometimes convey their reactions to what I’ve written. Please, take those same comments and observations, and type them. When I’ve made this suggestion directly to people, some have obliged, others… let’s hope you will in the future.
For those who do respond, I’ll make a further request. Sometimes, the comments that appear, (I always read them, though I don’t think it’s my place to reply in the comments section under my articles) seem to have no connection to the topic at hand. Other times, through a series of digressions, the discussion ends up straying far from the original topic. It’s interesting reading, sometimes thought provoking and sometimes eliciting a hearty chuckle, but focusing on the original issue would probably be more informative.
Discussions are necessary to building and evolving a consensus in our national life. Our surroundings are not stagnant, nor can our notions be, lest we fall off humanity’s civilizational bandwagon.
By way of recent, specific, topics to follow up, I want to note that a letter to the editor appeared in the Los Angeles Times regarding their piece about the risks for tourists in Turkey. A traveler had written to say that the cruise on which she was booked had modified the trip to exclude Turkey. According to the letter writer, that cruise line had made the same modification to all its cruises that included Turkey. This jibes with the sentiments expressed in response to my article based on the LA Times item. I hadn’t even thought of cruises. But that’s another angle, and we should be encouraging all the lines to ditch Turkey. The added twist to all this is what I’ve heard from friends about staff on these ships, worldwide… many are Turks.
The other item to follow up with is the question of wedding locations based on the rules of the Armenian Apostolic Church. Some of the comments contended that we have to abide by our “traditionsâ€
