"I would like to know the organization that is asking for stuffed animals that will fit into a shoe box, to be sent to children for Christmas."

- Hagerstown

"I don't understand America. Every other country, when they raise prices, the people revolt, but we won't revolt in America. They can raise our food prices, our house prices, our gas prices. We have low-paying jobs, but yet America won't revolt against the government. Why is this, when every other country revolts against their country?"

- Hagerstown

"I live on a farm right outside of Boonsboro, at the base of South Mountain. What a treat - today we heard a lot of crows raising a ruckus, and we looked; there was a bald eagle sitting in a tree out in our field."

- Boonsboro

"I wonder how we did it, back 25, 30 years ago, when we went to school and we took a notebook, paper, pencils and pens, and we survived getting through the entire school year with that. Now I have to buy a dozen glue sticks, three boxes of tissues, paper, pens, pencils that have to be sharpened before they get to the school. All this stuff, and for what? Does the school system not supply anything? Do we have to supply every little thing? Exactly what does the BOE do as far as purchasing supplies for the kids? Why is it all the parents' responsibilities? We pay taxes."

"I owe my life to unprotected sex."

- Waynesboro, Pa.

"I just saw a show about dog fighting. You are vile, vile creatures. Anybody that could do that to animals, and you call yourselves men? You're not men, you're cowards. Don't ever think you're going to heaven. Don't ever think it. God's done judged you, buddy.."

- Hagerstown

"As a child of the '60s and '70s, I fondly remember the toys that we played with, when we were able to kill and maim ourselves with our own stuff. Now we have dumbed down society so much that we are dependent on Chinese toys to kill and maim our children. How dumb can we get?"

- Halfway

"Northern Middle School bus drivers would like to say thank you to the Hagerstown fire police for helping us at the school entrance during Northern Avenue road work."

- Halfway

"I'm calling to let everyone know how the judicial system really works when you do have the money. Paris Hilton spent 45 days; initially it was supposed to be 23. Lindsay Lohan, for drug and alcohol charges, she gets one day. Nicole Richie, she spent a whopping 83 minutes for drug and alcohol driving. If that would be me and anyone in my family, or anyone else that doesn't have a whole lot of money and power, we would have got six months to 12 months, or maybe even years. The judicial system really works. Justice is blind."

- Hagerstown

"Just think how lucky we are. I just saw on the news where a man from Iran was beaten 80 times with a whip - they exposed his back, which was black and blue and red - for having sex outside of marriage and for abusing alcohol. The woman who was involved was jailed. And then you people want to say George Bush acts like Hitler? I don't think so. You all need to get a grip on life. Think of how lucky you are to live in this country, despite all the problems that we do have."

- Waynesboro, Pa.

"I noticed Mail Call is getting much shorter the past couple of times, and since it is getting shorter, I think I shall withdraw my subscription to the Daily Mail and The Herald-Mail and make it short, too, because I do not appreciate such short letters; that is, the amount of them."

- Rohrersville

"I read in Wednesday's Daily Mail, in the Mail Call section, about the state disability program, how long it's going to hold out. This hit the issue pretty much on the head. I've been a state employee quite a few years, and I know quite a few medically retired state employees who are getting their full medical retirement, and they are now working jobs that actually were harder and more strenuous jobs than they had with the state. You talk about double-dipping, half of this double-dipping is at the taxpayer's expense, and the state will not take them to court."

- Hagerstown

"Now that they're moving the Washington County Hospital out to the country, the hospital would make a wonderful place for a veterans' home. We have the veterans' hospital in Martinsburg, but that's not a live-in facility as such. The commissary only holds so many people, and there are certain restrictions. The closest veterans' home in Maryland is at Charlotte Hall, down on the Eastern Shore, and the next closest one is Altoona, Pa. Of course, you've got to be a Pennsylvanian to live there. This would be something for the county commissioners, the Hagerstown council and everybody else to think about."

- Fiddlersburg

"This is to the Sharpsburg caller: Get real. I lived in the '50s and '60s prior to the drug invasion. I never heard of rehabs, homeless, WIC, food banks. Men worked, spent money on food - not drugs, tattoos, body piercing. It was spent on their family. Lots of families had gardens. People got married then, before becoming parents. Why don't you get real? If you lived back then, then you'll know what I'm talking about."

- Funkstown

"I'm reading the paper about these people complaining about the hospital building out at Robinwood, because of the traffic. If them people are protesting the move, why didn't they protest when they built all of them apartment houses out there, or condos? I drove out there by there the other day, and it was all kind of buildings, so why didn't they protest all of that? So from what I can gather, there will be hundreds of units out there for people to rent, so they all got cars, so it's a wonder they didn't protest that."

- Hagerstown

"I'm calling in about the comment in Friday's paper about 'Sicko' meant to make money for Michael Moore, and giving our money to the government. I'd rather give my money to the government than I would to all these HMOs that are making so darn much money, the CEOs and so forth. I am a nurse. I've worked in health care for a lot of years. I have been a patient, and believe me, this health care in the U.S. has got to be changed. And by the way, it said that out of the 39 developed nations, ours was 77th. It's 37th. Out of 39 developed nations, we are 37th in health care."

"To the preservation group wanting the park to have more land, including the old Millville quarry property, this means no more taxes. And who will clean up the old dumps? Not the park. They can't clean up the land they have now."

- Jefferson County, W.Va.

"This is about plastic bags. I intend to continue to use them, and I hope that the grocery stores continue to use them as well. They're thin, they're lightweight, they give, they hold many, many more things than any tote safely, because they're also basically waterproof. And they're all I have to use to pick up the dog waste, etc. that not only do my canines put down, but others do on my property. So when those plastic bags disappear, a lot of other stuff isn't going to."

- Hagerstown

"I can't understand why there is no pavement going from Williamsport to the Springfield Middle School. The pavement stops at Mary's filling station, until you go to the tennis court; no pavement on either side of the road. Yesterday, picking up my daughter, I had to stop before I got to the hill, because of all the children walking in the middle of the road. I think this is very dangerous, and I think the BOE should be looking into it. Thank you."

- Williamsport

"As for the arts school they want to build and spend a bunch of money on, I still think they ought to use Maugansville school for it. I know that they said that that building's in the way of the new design. Change the blueprint, add some central air to the old school, because they're gonna put that in the new school anyhow, and you would save a lot of money. How much is it gonna cost you guys to change a blueprint, versus building a whole complete building and remodeling it and the whole nine yards? It would be a nice place. That building is sturdy, it's steady, and they don't build them like that anymore. So, something to think about. People need to speak up about it, save a little bit of money."

- Broadfording Road

"To the person who's on parole who's in Hagerstown and from Hagerstown, says that there are no programs to help people stay on the straight and narrow: I happen to know that's wrong, because when you get out of prison, you are told to stay out of barrooms, you're told to not associate with other people who drink or use drugs. You're supposed to go to church, although they can't really enforce it. You're supposed to have a job and go to work every day, and report in when you're supposed to report in. If you need a guardian over you, you should be back in jail. This is just normal living, so if you can't handle it out here . . . people like you don't belong out here. So all I have to say is plain old common sense is what you need. Just keep your nose clean and stay out of trouble. If that's too hard for you ..."

- Waynesboro, Pa.

"I want to know why it is these restaurants put in their inspections, and then you go to the same restaurants that they just had in there, and the employees have their drinks sitting there at the ice machines or sitting at the Coke machines, and you see the ice thing back into the things. Do the restaurant inspectors go back in a day or two later and see that the things that they said was corrected are just a return of what they already said? I'd like to know the answer to this, please."

- Hagerstown

"I know of a small family who is being evicted from their apartment next Friday. They are unemployed and have exhausted all ways of finding help. Do you know anyone who can help?"

- Hagerstown

"I would like very much to commend David and Tina at the new Wonder Books, for having such a wonderful store, and for being so congenial and courteous."

- Hagerstown

"I was wondering why the grocery stores, restaurants in the Valley Mall, why they have to keep the temperature so cold in those stores. It's very uncomfortable when you're shopping. In fact, some of the grocery stores, you feel like you have to run through them or you'll freeze. The higher the energy prices go, the colder these stores are keeping it. Even the employees are wearing jackets or sweaters. So I think it would be a good idea if everybody could turn their thermostats up a couple of degrees to make the customers a little more comfortable while eating or shopping."

- Williamsport

"Now that the Washington County BOE is naming the school holiday breaks fall break, winter break, and spring break, why do they purposely schedule them to coincide with Thanksgiving, Christmas and Easter? Fall break should be in October. Winter break should be in mid-January."

- Hagerstown

"I'm calling in reference to these things about purchasing supplies for the school kids. I lived back in the '50s and '60s, same as the person from Waynesboro. My mother took in washings and ironings to get us stuff. We didn't have dollar stores, yard sales and these other things that you have now. I'm tired of hearing people say ... they can't afford to buy things. How about the Salem Avenue PTA? They purchase supplies for their elementary students. So give me a break and quit complaining. Do what you're supposed to do for your children."

- Hancock

"This is for a kind and caring lady, Larue H. Hitchens, of Williamsport. You are thought of a lot, and in a loving way. God bless you and take care of you."

- Williamsport

"John Kerry - you all remember him, the decorated war hero that the Republicans made a mockery of? He had said several things during his campaign that turned out to be true. Number one, when he thought his microphone was turned off, he said this is the most crooked administration that he's ever seen. Well, he was right about that. He said we should secure our borders. He's been right about that. He also said we should inspect our ports. Now that we have tainted food and lead paint coming in, he was right about that. Looks like we did elect the wrong guy."

- Hagerstown

"In reference to the comments by the Waynesboro caller, stating that bicyclists are allowed on the roads, too, in which I have to agree with that caller. In all my years of riding a bicycle and all, for pleasure, along with for transportation and all, a lot of these motorists out there today still don't get it, to realize that bicyclists are allowed on a lot of the roads, too, not only them. I have people yelling at me to get off the road and so forth. I feel that these people, when they go for their driver's license, needs to read the driver's manual thoroughly, and read that part about bicyclists are allowed on the roads also. They need to read that line."

- Greencastle, Pa.

"All the people calling in for the You Said It or the Mail Call, they're all a bunch of morons. They got nothing to do but sit around and complain about stuff. They're all a bunch of morons."

- Hagerstown

"Yessiree Bob, I got me a Mega Millions ticket and I got me a Powerball ticket, well over half a billion dollars. I hope I win, that way I can live in John Edwards' America."

- Hagerstown

"This is so typical for the Hagerstown area - put down and make bad remarks about a movie and its maker, when they've never even seen the movie."

- Hagerstown

"Will the person on Walnut Point Road please return the box mistakenly delivered to you by FedEx? You know it belongs on Walnut Point West. Just put it on my back porch, no questions asked. Thank you."