The Bloom Was Off the Rose Parade

Re “Once Again, No Rain on This Parade” (Jan. 2): Just a week after the deadly tsunamis that struck Asia, a story about the Rose Parade opened with this: “After days of punishing rain, the exquisite blue skies that dawned for the 116th annual Rose Parade on Saturday proved to some devotees what they have long taken on faith: God watches out for Pasadena on New Year’s Day.” OK. So conversely, God does not watch out for those in Asia? You would have been hard-pressed to come up with a printable more insensitive or inappropriate lead-in to your article.

Patrick Gorse

Pasadena

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The local media promoted use of the MTA Gold Line for transportation to the Tournament of Roses parade and game, and many Angelenos complied. During the morning, getting to the Rose Parade was easy. However, MTA ran the Gold Line on a Sunday schedule with a train about every 15 minutes. There were no extra cars added to accommodate the crowds at the end of the parade. The trains were already filled up with people on their way to the bowl game, and the result was that passengers waited about 1 1/2 hours to board the Gold Line after the parade, which is unacceptable. Other major cities encourage the use of mass transit for special events, then provide added service to efficiently move passengers.

Duane Meek

Irvine