I've now attended two meetings about the proposed methadone clinic on Route 1. I wasn't that interested in the topic, but a friend asked me to come along, so I've learned a lot.

For example, among those opposed to the clinic, you certainly can see a distinct pride in Guilford being a special place full of very special people who don't "deserve" this kind of facility, as if our kids were more precious than the kids of West Haven, our property values more sacred and worthy of protection than property values in North Haven, and our quality of life more important than the quality of life for the people of New Haven. So I have to ask: Why?

Why are we so unique that we alone should be spared the fallout from a national opioid addiction crisis? Besides the fact that you happen to live here, why should this particular town be exempted from a problem that has ravaged the country? We aren't the chosen ones. In fact, some of us aren't even that nice to our neighbors.

At the second meeting I attended, I witnessed a man get up and thank APT Foundation CEO Lynn Madden for her work because it had saved the life of his addicted son. As he walked down the center aisle to return to his seat, another man two seats down from me decided to tell him, "Well, you obviously weren't a very good father." He then repeated it louder in case the other man hadn't heard. Maybe he thinks that a "good father" doesn't raise a child who might, say, fall off a roof, hurt their back, be prescribed addictive painkillers by a doctor, then get addicted to those painkillers. No, here in Guilford, we're much too good for that kind of thing.

Jill Paglino

Guilford