Letter: Left me cold

As a journalist and photographer, I thought very carefully before submitting the photos of The Willie Warmers to the paper. I had been assigned to cover the Triple S art exhibit at Nina's Nook and I took it seriously, as I take all of my assignments. My goal is not to judge but to go out and hear what people have to say about what they are doing. The artists in the Triple S show were trying to broaden public discussion about sexuality. Is a knitted depiction of a penis offensive? Is a penis in and of itself offensive? Why would we ever want young boys to grow up feeling that was so, when their anatomy is inescapable? These sorts of questions are the questions that the artists in the show welcome, and that I welcome. Thank you for reading my story. Trish Crapo

The news we see in the paper, on the web, and on TV offends me every single day. Real life stories of violence, racism, addiction, crime – none of it is appropriate for children. On September 11, 2001, we took our 5-year-old son to Children’s Hospital in Boston to have some very invasive and painful procedures involving catheterization. Later we found out that he would have to have bladder surgery to correct a birth defect. We not only had to explain that to him, but had to try to explain the inexplicable – why the TV in the hospital lobby kept showing pictures of planes hitting buildings – over, and over, and over again. After that, Willie Warmers would have been comic relief – bring it on! I truly hope the most offensive and horrifying things that Bobbi Braun’s kids see, hear, or experience are Willie Warmers. Sadly, that is not the world we live in today. Her kids will hear a lot worse on the bus than what’s displayed at Nina’s. I fervently hope as a mother that her kids don’t experience a tragedy like Sandy Hook or 9/11 during their lifetime. Oh, and I should warn her not to substitute the evening news on TV for the newspaper (which she vowed not to let the kids read) – there are some pretty embarrassing ads for prescription medication for men that air on the national news shows!