European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - April 14, 1986, Darmstadt, Hesse                                The stars and stripes monday april 14, 1986 columns person of person we re honest by Andy Rooney All right test Lime. Is the following statement True or false corruption appears to be pervasive in our society. I am thinking not simply of the Public office Holder who betrays his Trust. What also troubles me is the corruption of our Ordinary citizens. I am thinking of the children who learn from their parents to cheat the storekeeper the Telephone company and the government. I am thinking of corporations who cheat the  this is a recent statement by the flamboyant mayor of new York City de Koch. Do you agree that most Ameri cans arc dishonest it would be hard to go about the business of living Here if we All thought they All were. I think All of us have to lock the doors of our houses not because we re All Dishon. Cost but because about 1 percent of us steal. If it was t for that 1 percent cars would t have to be made with ignition keys. When mayor Koch talks about cheating the Telephone company or the government he s getting into something else. 1 think that Given half a Chance a lot of americans would cheat the Telephone company or the government. It s not because americans Are dishonest. It s because they think taking something like a phone Call from the Tele phone company without paying for it does t really Hurt anyone. They re usually mad at the phone company any Way. I be often had my change returned in a Coin Booth after i be made a Long distance Call but i be never called Back the operator to say i wanted to redeposit it. It s wrong but it never made me feel dishonest. Unfortunately i suppose my attitude toward the phone company is the same one that allows shoplifters to walk out of a big impersonal store without paying for an item they be hidden under their coat. Most people who steal would t take something directly from another person. Stealing from an impersonal entity like the government or a Utility company or even a depart ment store does t seem dishonest to them. They Don t think of themselves in the same league with the mugger who looks someone in the Eye knocks the person to the ground and takes what Money he is carrying. Person to person most people Are honest. During world War ii i saw american soldiers go into the Homes of German citizens who had fled As our army approached and strip their Homes of anything of value. These were not dishonest american soldiers. They were Young men with a temporarily suspended sense of decency. It did not seem to them As though they were stealing. The if i Don to some one else will mentality took Over. Dishonesty is a Complex thing. Almost no one who steals thinks of himself As a bad person. They be talked them selves into believing they have it coming. Often they feel society has cheated them and owes them something. It s always amusing to read about mafia figures res Onsi ble for dozens of murders who hold to a firm code of ethics in relation to each other. Between them a handshake is All that s necessary. They Are scrupulously honest on a per Sonal basis and often devoutly religious and dedicated family members also. Several years ago in new York i was travelling with a camera Crew with hundreds of thousands of dollars Worth of equipment in a station Wagon. We stopped to Park the station Wagon in a lot next door to a restaurant in which a notorious mob Leader had been pumped full of bullets a few weeks earlier. When we started to lock the car the parking lot Atten Dant waved to us. Hey he said shaking his Finger in a gesture that indicated Locking the car was t necessary this is mul Berry Street. Nobody s Gonna steal nothing  we Are not personally dishonest but some of us need to be reminded from time to time what honesty is. C Tribune Media services Choice building lots on the runway by Art Buchwald since the Reagan administration has put parts of the United states up for Sale everyone is bidding on our More valuable properties. A British company has tendered an offer through the . Rothschild Bank to buy Dulles and National airports. The brits Are willing to pay $1 billion. This seems like a lot of Money if you re thinking Landing strips. But it s spit in the bucket if you re talking real estate. Jeff Doranz America s leading Developer Hopes to out bid the British for the two airports. He believes that air terminals have a great untapped potential for mass hous ing. If you bought Dulles and National airports would you tear Down the present terminals i asked him. On the contrary the terminals Are very decorative and fit in with our housing and shopping  will you still permit planes to take off and land we will not Only permit Ity but encourage it. What Well be Selling with our condominiums is Access to the airports. We re aiming our sales at the person who is always on an air plane. As a matter of fact we want to put flashing signs at the ends of the runways which will say if you lived Here you d be Home now " where on the Field do you plan to construct your hous ing developments he took out his blueprints. Right Here along both sides of the runway. We want to make this place a family Community. On warm nights we Hope people will sit in their Back Yards drink Beer and wave at the passengers As they Whiz  the houses Don t leave much room for the pilots to land i pointed out. The pilots Don t need much room As Long As the town House gaslight act As beacons for  will the frightful noise be a negative Factor for your homeowners Why should it be residents will have Pride of ownership in what the airports do. When they hear a Roar overhead they la sleep better knowing people express is bringing another payload safely  i studied Doranz s blueprints. What s this Circle located in the Middle of the runway at National Airport that s the Golf  you Are building a Golf course on the National run Way where would you build one if you owned an Airport As the primary developers we Don t have much space to work with. We have the Potomac on one Side and this Highway on the other. The Only place for Golf links is Here unless the government wants to sell us 1-95." How do you play Golf with the planes taxiing up and Down All Day Long golfers who buy into the development will have priority Over the planes. Our flight Tower will be instructed to hold up on All landings and takeoffs until the members play  where Are you going to put the shopping Center Here on the first three floors of our 40-Story hotel and office  will you raze All these giant repair hangars of course not. We re just going to move the planes out and the cars in. Air plane hangars make marvelous parking garages for automobiles. When you buy a terminal you have to use every Inch of the ground for Revenue. The reason airports Are losing Money these Days is the spend too much on servicing  Tell me the Trugh Doranz. If you buy National and Dulles airports from the government will you still allow air traffic to use them we will for the time being. But All bets Are off if we need another Golf  today s crossword by Eugene Sheffer across 37 Amend 1 on 40 Cul de equal to 5 Knock 41 Swift 8 Andrews horse or Wynter 42 Ordinary 12 pasta base 14 former Alaska governor 15 Man and apes 16 come in last17 in the sky 18 instructed 20 calculating Snake 23 grating 24 require 25 readers 28 word with bag or biscuit29 indians 30 who am argue 32 hedge plants 34 Portal 35 observes 36 bristles i s47 festive 48 put up with49 asterisk 50 harden51 Pitcher Down 1 venomous Snake 2 through 3 French Friend 4 frolicked 5 the of Spring 6 Donkey in Deau Ville 7 Rich desserts 8 deceive 9 excited 10 humorous poet 11 Dill Plant 13 animal shaven 19 goals 20 them creature 21 profound solution time 27 min. 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