To the editor:

Well, folks, life is what you make it.

I’ve never heard of the RoadSnacks website reported in the Saturday Daily Journal.

But, I don’t cruise the Internet looking for such things.

Perhaps we should be flattered that the site manager even knew about Rockingham and Hamlet to gather their statistics.

The site ranked Rockingham and Hamlet as bad places to live, according to their interpretation of certain statistics comparing various places.

One reason we have crime statistics here is because we have efficient law enforcement agencies that make arrests. No arrests, lower statistics.

Sadly we have residents with drug problems, but so do all places in America.

To feed habits, addicts need to steal. That means we all have to be vigilant. One lone addict can create a lot of crime and a lot of statistics.

Law officers know most of these people and know there isn’t much they can do when it comes to treatment.

We have numerous agencies working on treatment, but it can be an endless cycle. The judicial system is one of a revolving door.

When it comes to education, I go to the old saying you can lead the horse to water, but can’t make it drink.

When it comes to work, you have to be willing to start at the bottom, not the top. I recall at one time a local major industry was using prison labor, for whatever reason, and using foreign labor, which is commendable as a resettlement program.

I have often wondered why so many people from south of the United States border find our county so attractive. Could it be that employment is available in Richmond County?

Give me all the statistics you can provide on any place in America, and I can make it look bad, or find the good.

Impressions of any place are all a balance of the good and bad, just like you and me.

You get out of any place what you put into it. If you want to be involved in any community, you will most likely be welcomed for any contribution.

It depends on your motivation and your motives.

Rarely a day goes by when the Daily Journal does not have some type of uplifting story about what the people are doing in this community to make it better for others.

I hate to use so many cliches, but it all depends on the old adage of looking at life with an eye on the glass half full or half empty.

To those who agree with negative summations, I regret your unhappiness and hope you may find a brighter light elsewhere or have a change of heart.

The rest of the community will go on working to find ways to make life better and share whatever sunshine is available.

Before we cast a bad light on others or the communities in which they live, perhaps we need to look first at our own lives and how we fit into the life of a community to make it better for all, not just for ourselves.

Tom MacCallum

Rockingham