Some ‘Cures’ for ‘Home Sick’ Sufferers

I felt bad for the couples interviewed in “Home Sick” by Rhonda Bright (Aug. 26) for their feelings of failure and emptiness because they can’t afford to buy the kind of a house they grew up in or feeling helpless and hopeless for not being able to live in a half-million-dollar home on L.A.’s Westside.

Could their parents actually have allowed them to spend the much of their formative years in front of the TV watching “Ozzie & Harriet” or “Leave It to Beaver”?

I translated the article for my gardener, Jose, who asked me if it was a put-on. Jose came here from Mexico five years ago, worked the strawberry fields in Salinas for three years and now has his own gardening service where he puts in 60 hours work a week.

He shares a one-bedroom apartment with his sister, her husband, two children and his cousin. Recently, Jose came to me with much elation to tell me that he and his cousin will soon be purchasing a small condo near downtown.

He is 23 years old, just an eighth grade education, and sends support money to his mother in Mexico. I think he’s one of the happiest men alive. Maybe some of these would-be yuppies who feel so cheated of their entitlements should go pick strawberries in Salinas for a while.

HOWARD PLZAK

Los Angeles