Dear Editor,
Rare to find such negativity from a Cape Bretoner as I did in Mary Campbell’s March 22nd screed on caddies at Cabot (“The ‘Joy and Wonderment’ of Caddying“).
Personally, I have met and carried for some of the most interesting, curious and open minded people. All seem genuinely keen to know more about Cape Breton and Cape Bretoners. I hope that after they leave they take with them a warm and favorable impression of us. It certainly has been fun for me.
Mike Allen
Dunvegan
The Editor (who is Mary Campbell) responds:
“Negativity” is required to do so much work in this letter. It must cover all the questions asked in my “screed”—from why the municipal government in Inverness is recruiting for a private company, to the wisdom of employing 14-year-olds as caddies, to wage theft on the golf course, to the questionable nature of “golf journalism.”
I’m glad Allen has enjoyed his personal experience as a caddy (I’m also oddly glad that he attributes the negativity to me alone and not to Cape Bretoners in general, a far more common trope in letters of this stripe) but I think his contribution would have been much more convincing had it addressed even one of the issues I raised.