I returned home today after getting a haircut, wondering if I had missed an opportunity.

At the barber’s, a man in the next chair was telling his barber that during the summer he spends three nights a week at his home in Portland, and the other four nights on one of Portland’s islands. My wife and I did the same when our son was young – an enviable schedule by most people’s standards.

He commented on the high taxes in Portland, and how he didn’t agree with Portland’s outreach to immigrants.

I was tempted to ask if he would be willing to change places with any of the immigrants fleeing endemic political corruption and the threat of their family’s death and starvation. However, it was not my conversation, so I withheld any comment on a statement that I was not an intended party to.

I am very supportive of Portland’s outreach to oppressed populations. I did nothing to deserve being born in this country. It was an accident of birth. The same went for my parents and grandparents. I am happy to share with others who were not so fortunate, and I am buoyed by volunteers who feel the same and by the outpouring of donations.

Richard Paulson

Portland