To the Editor:

I found the letter from the winter resident in the Feb. 19 issue interesting. There’s a lot more she dislikes about Mesquite than she likes, but she states at the end of the letter that it’s not intended as criticism so I’ll take her word for it.

One of the things she mentioned was shopping. I thought I knew Mesquite pretty well but apparently there are only two women’s clothing venues. One is for 90 year olds, which seems rather odd and makes me wonder where the 88 and 89 year olds shop, and the other is Wal-Mart, a place she will not step into. She states both are crudely insufficient, but at least she didn’t criticize them.

She also mentioned the lack of available grocery shopping, stating Smith’s and Wal-Mart is all there is. She left out the Hispanic store on Riverside Drive with a butcher shop, homemade salsa’s, and a bakery with some delicious sweets, but maybe that’s another place she wouldn’t step into. So she has to make the arduous 40 minute trek to St George to shop at Costco and Harmon’s. I’ve been to Harmon’s on multiple occasions and I’m sorry but I feel that Smiths has a greater selection of meats and seafood along with a better produce section. Additionally their customer service is as good as it gets in the grocery business. As for Wal-Mart, I understand there are a lot of people that hold them in contempt, but they provide a wide variety of goods and service’s at a reasonable price to retiree’s on a fixed income, and to lower income service and labor families. Gee, I think those two demographics make up a significant % of Mesquite residents, but everyone is certainly welcome to shop wherever they want and if she can afford to fill up the tank and drive to St George to pay higher prices for similar goods and service’s she’s a fortunate individual.

She then compares us to and speaks glowingly of some place called Ukiah (must be Indian for Shangri-La). That piqued my interest so I researched that heavenly place. I did discover that despite their wonderful amenities they only have one McDonalds vs our two, and that likely explains why their population lags that of Mesquites.

Finally, she claims that St George has better restaurants than Mesquite but is concerned about the access to Popeye’s Chicken. Now I’m no one to second guess anyone’s interpretation of what constitutes fine dining, but now I’m wondering if it’s the Chik-fil-A that keeps her trekking back to St George.

I guess you can just put me down as someone who loves Mesquite. My wife and I are in that group of people that actually knew what was available prior to moving here, so although we do occasionally shop elsewhere, it’s not because we’re disappointed with what Mesquite has to offer. It is nice to hear divergent views and I respect everyone’s right to voice their opinion. She’s certainly not alone in wishing for a local representation of a favorite restaurant or retail outlet and I’m just glad she took the high road and decided not to criticize us.

Jimmy Wike
Mesquite