Consider the future of the youth who follow

I was struck by two articles in The Gazette last weekend. One in Sunday's paper was on the poem that the Iowa State coach Matt Campbell read to his football team. The poem, The Bridge Builder, by Will Allen Dromgoole, brought tears to my eyes. It was about an old man on a journey, whose path led him to a river that he had to wade across. He crossed and stopped to build a bridge. He was chastised by an onlooker for wasting his time since it was unlikely that the old man would ever pass here again. The old man said he had seen a youth a ways back who was on the same path and would be unable to wade through the river; so he felt compelled to build the bridge.

A Saturday article about stronger rules on cellphone usage in cars included responses by some Iowa legislators, who said a ban using cellphones while driving would violate "personal freedoms." Similar arguments have been used against mandating vaccinations or masks, as well regulating farm runoff into waterways. These "personal freedoms" are a danger to others and to make life more difficult for the youth who follow us.

I wish more of us could be like the old man in the poem and try to make life better for the youth that follow us rather than be overly concerned about our "personal freedoms." What kind of world are we leaving to our kids and grandkids?

Craig Wood

Cedar Rapids