When I graduated from junior high in Corona, there were seats reserved for my parents in the school auditorium, and when I graduated from high school in Bell, there were seat reserved for my parents, also. My father received my diploma for me as I was in the service of my country in 1943.

When I go to the fairgrounds in Mariposa to see my granddaughters graduate, there are no seats reserved for families of the graduates. There are blankets and notices covering dozens of seats, so for whom are these seats reserved? Do grandparents, mothers and fathers who cannot get there early have to stand or sit in an area that is so far detached that you cannot see who you came to see graduate?

I hear people say vote for this person because they’re from Mariposa and know how we live here in Mariposa or whatever, and that really ticks me off. Are people from Los Angeles or any other place in the world not as worthy of consideration? Mariposa has not the compaies that hire people like myself that live in Mariposa. Only cities like Los Angeles have companies that do work all over the United States and Europe.

There are a lot of talented people living in Mariposa that are retired and you have no idea who they are or what they are capable of and the only reason they are here is because they have retired. I do not consider myself a local even though I bought my property in 1958, and my parents moved up on it thereafter. I did not even consider moving here after I retired at age 55, but considered Hawaii or San Diego.

That all changed through certain circumstances I had not anticipated after I sold this property. So, why are there not seats reserved for parents and grandparents of the graduates? And please shut your mouth about how great the people of Mariposa are because they are not from Mariposa, they are from Los Angeles, San Francisco and all points north, south, east and west.

Otho C. Spence, Jr.