I had a communication from a constituent named Dan Boggs. It was sent to me personally … He wrote it to me and me only as a board member. In the last paragraph, he asked me to take a specific action.

He sent an e-mail to me, care of Linda Cooper, at the hospital on March 10. This communication was dispersed to several people. I never received a copy of the original.

I think everyone knows we have more in us. We're real close, and some things are just communication things. We know it's not a lack of ability.

It's worth remembering that every time that a new communication technology becomes popular there's usually a moral panic. When the telephone was introduced in the 19th century, there was widespread fear that it would decrease the authority of parents over their daughters, that men would be entering the house through the telephone line. That's something we are going through now with the Internet, the fear that strange men will enter the house through the DSL line.

Anything that’s human is mentionable, and anything that is mentionable can be more manageable. When we can talk about our feelings, they become less overwhelming, less upsetting, and less scary. The people we trust with that important talk can help us know that we are not alone.

I got very irate about the fact that this was the first I'd heard about the thing.