Dear Editor,

In regards to your “opinion piece” of “Stop the complaints,” I find it ironic that you include “credibility” in the bottom of your recent piece.
Matt, you mention this as if you have any credibility of anything to do with Clarkston when in the moment your fingers began typing, you completely lost yours. To start, the fact that you live outside of the town you are shaming (you live in Goodrich) and are publicly bashing the people of Clarkston for standing up for what they believe in, promoting the general health and well-being of their own families, and dealing with this “pandemic” in the way they feel is best for them (remember when we used to have a choice in matters of personal well-being?) is not only disgusting but it is also completely disconnected from a reality in which you are far removed.
As I mentioned above, you live outside of the town and in your cozy ‘quaint’ town of Goodrich, things are a bit different than they are here, aren’t they? For instance, I know many people in your community, many of whom know you and your family. They go to the stores you frequent, they order from the restaurants where you order from, and their children attend the same schools where your kids attend – in person. That’s right, Matt, your kids in Goodrich are attending school in-person during this time. How very credible of you to write about “some of us would rather pine for sympathy” and shame the working “selfish” parents of Clarkston for putting “their jobs and income above” the homeschooling of their children. You write as if you are experiencing the same situation as anyone in Clarkston! You don’t live in Clarkston and your situation is not ours, yet you write as if you’re in the weeds with the people of Clarkston. How very credible of you.
Your words and ‘opinion’ are filled with little regard to understanding how people outside of your belief system truly feel. As if there aren’t other opinions that matter, other than yours. You write as if the people in our community of Clarkston are nothing but “pathetic” at having thoughts and emotions surrounding their children’s valuable school experience because they don’t align with your thoughts, your emotions, and your agenda. Do you, from Goodrich, understand how our children in Clarkston are reacting to homeschool? Do you even think about the daily struggle that our once happy learners of Clarkston, those who loved to be alongside their friends and classmates, now subjected to more and more screen time and little – if any – social and community time? No, you do not! Once again you don’t live in our community and your kids are not experiencing what our kids are experiencing. You don’t see the depression, the frustration, the sadness in our children when they log on and struggle through most days. You, while you sit at your desk in your ‘home study,’ likely in a quiet space for you to concentrate on your most important duty – delivering your one-sided opinion to those outside of your community – are able to focus on your craft, while those of us who are “selfish” are focused on being a teacher, counselor, therapist, nurturer, mom/dad, doctor, book buddy, chef, playmate, IT Support, and on and on – all while holding down a full-time job to keep the lights on and food on the table (if we are lucky enough to be employed at this time).
Many of us in our community are doing all of this and more! Many of us in Clarkston are experiencing this as well as losing family and friends to this horrible virus. We get that it’s real. We understand that it’s not going away soon and there will be more deaths to come. We understand….so don’t pretend and claim that we don’t. Tell me again how we are being selfish?
Your sad attempt to categorize a group of wonderful people as “pathetic” and “lazy” is something that I wish you’d take your own advice from your ‘opinion piece’ and go look in the mirror. Look in the mirror and tell yourself to be better. Tell yourself to open your mind to others and their thoughts, beliefs, emotions and their struggles surrounding this situation you say that ‘we are all in’ and try to remember that YOU are not US. Please don’t act and write like you are.
I don’t know your personal situation, nor do I claim to understand your beliefs. I can say that I don’t know you personally but those that I’ve spoken to about you say you’re a good person, as are most hockey people. So this is very surprising that you would publicly shame people – especially those you don’t even know – in a community paper! Who does that? Why do that? Are you looking for responses? If so, you’re going to be pleased with the results on social media as well as print.
Matt, I understand that you’re an editor of The Clarkston News so I’m not sure if this will see the light of day beyond you.
However, I feel that you need to work on your tact and respect for those you claim to represent and be better.
Or just stick to hockey and/or sports in general since opinions are like (you know what) – everyone has one and they usually stink. We now know yours certainly does.

Sincerely,
Mike Roemensky
Parent, full-time employee, homeschool support staff, proud resident of Clarkston

P.S. You won’t find me hiding behind social media or an email. You can find me out and about in my wonderful town.