After reading the front page of the OBSERVER, I had to comment on the article titled “More schools able to offer free lunches.” My concern is that nothing is free in this day and age. The people who are financing this program are the seniors who are only living on a fixed income, only from Social Security, and also the hard-working men and women who are trying to support their own families by working two jobs. In reality, there are no free meals in our schools.

Those of us who grew up in the ’50s, by the way, were the last of the common-sense generation. We had to walk to school or use our bikes. During lunch, we walked home. In the morning, we had breakfast at home. There were no school buses.

We walked to school. Our parents took the responsibility to feed their own families at home. My question is: where are the parents today? Don’t they take the responsibility of taking care of their own children instead of relying on others to accept their responsibilities of their own kids?

Our parents in the ’50s took those responsibilities on by themselves. So why can’t today’s parents do the same? Today we have the welfare program that supports those families with food stamps and more benefits than the working class people. Included in those free benefits, they also receive $400 a month per child. So where are the responsibilities of these parents?

Maybe they don’t care to accept those responsibilities to take care of their own and then pawn their kids off onto society to take care of them. There is no excuse for this attitude. Society is not responsible for your kids. You should take care of them yourselves.

Today there are school buses to cart those kids around. There is no reason for that when the parents have their cars parked in their driveway. Millions are spent on buses, paid for again by the taxpayers. Today the parents should take an example from the parents of the ’50s and accept your own responsibilities for your own family. It is not society’s problems. They are yours.

It is about time you accept these responsibilities on your own. Why should seniors on a fixed income do your job for you? They already raised their own families. They don’t need to do your job for you.

Freeloaders are so used to having society do their jobs for them with housing, food, benefits that it has become uncontrollable. Anyone, other than me, notice the “hiring” signs at businesses? That’s how we did it years ago. We worked for our money — not taking from someone else.

Richard Makuch is a Dunkirk resident. Send comment to editorial@observertoday.com