Kobe Earthquake

Banks destroyed. ATM machines left intact. Twelve-dollar flashlights before the quake, costing $12 after. No reports of price gouging or looting. Patient lines of people stoically waiting for food or information. No line jumping or altercations.

Thank you, people of Kobe, for such a fine example of discipline and citizenship. Would that our citizens would behave in a similar fashion, given the inevitable crisis that will surely come. Sadly, I fear not.

OSCAR GIBSON

Huntington Beach