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Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

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Edit: Patriotism Lacking At Post Office

The traveling Wall that Heals left a trail of tears in Hayden, not all of them at the actual site of the Vietnam Wall replica. Out doing what he does best, Hayden resident and full-time volunteer Graham Crutchfield was raising awareness in the greater Coeur d'Alene area a couple of weeks before the Wall arrived. Armed with a handful of 8.5-by-11 sheets giving basic information about the Wall and its sojourn to North Idaho, Crutchfield entered a Post Office branch and asked the woman at the counter if it would be OK to post a sheet on the wall. The woman said she needed to check with her supervisor, and upon returning said "No." Crutchfield wasn't sure she understood. "I told her we weren't asking for money. We just wanted to make sure people knew the exhibit was coming," he said. And he recalled this reply from the employee: "If we did that for you, we'd have to do it for everybody." Crutchfield was stunned/Coeur d'Alene Press Editorial Board. More here.

Question: What would you have done if you'd been the post office employee who fielded Crutchfield's request?



D.F. Oliveria
D.F. (Dave) Oliveria joined The Spokesman-Review in 1984. He currently is a columnist and compiles the Huckleberries Online blog and writes about North Idaho in his Huckleberries column.

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