Juxtapositional Irony

I found two articles on the front page of the Dec. 28 View Section in what must be the height of juxtapositional irony (“Year-End Update: Revisiting Scenes and People from 1986 View Stories”). One was on the plight of the homeless, the other on the frivolous nature of some gala fund-raisers.

The first article by Kathleen Hendrix took a look back at the problem of locating a permanent site for just some of L.A.’s homeless, involving about $420,000 in private and government funds.

The second, by Betty Cuniberti, looked back on the laughable problem of a gaudy dress worn only once by Nancy Reagan, for an Inaugural ball, and the attempts by some to raise funds for its restoration.

I have a solution to both problems: Why don’t the people in authority store all the dresses in the First Ladies Hall at the Smithsonian, take the $500,000 they plan to raise for the restoration of said dresses, and give it to Alice Callaghan of Las Familias del Pueblo, for the homeless of L.A.?

After all, both the homeless and dresses will be with us in the future, except the homeless are people, and deserve more care than dresses.

JOHN R. POWELL

Downey