About the letter about more resources needing to be spent on bathroom maintenance (“Cleaner restrooms are needed in isle paradise,” Star-Advertiser, Nov. 8): I doubt that is the solution.
Having just returned from a Japan trip, several things were mind-blowing: There was literally not one piece of trash on the train station floors despite very few trash cans around; there was no graffiti on the walls of 99.99% of buildings and train station walls.
In Kanazawa, I saw zero homeless in public places. In Tokyo I saw two homeless people on an overpass neatly seated on a tiny mat (no stolen carts or ugly trash).
How did Hawaii and the rest of the U.S. get to the point of behaving so badly, where shoplifting under $1,000 equals no prosecution, mob smash-and-grabs, stealing shopping carts, defecating on sidewalks, destroying plumbing in beach bathrooms, etc., are acceptable?
The solution is total behavior remodification. Unfortunately, that’s not likely to happen when people feel entitled to behaving badly and everyone (including government) turns a blind eye. There is no respect and pono anymore. We are headed for disaster.
Lisa Adlong
Hauula
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