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Letters to the editor Mother right to accept kind offer Dear editor, Re: Matt Penny's March 9 letter, Mother was too trusting of stranger. Did Mr. Penny read the initial letter? If I recall correctly, Ms. Baker and her son were at a busy Tim Hortons. Where does he think the cookie came from? It wasn't like the gentleman he calls into question baked it himself. I am led to believe by his comments then that Mr. Penny is against Halloween and does not hand out candy to "strange" children when they come knocking on his door (or allow his nephew to partake in this activity). As to his question "what on earth was this woman thinking?", I think she thought it was a kind gesture that someone paid to her son. Speaking as a mother, I am certain that she would not have accepted the cookie if she didn't feel right about it (call it mother's intuition). As parents we need to teach our children right from wrong. If we shelter them from everything then we are doing a real disservice to them. They need to experience the world and see that there are kind people out there. Ms. Baker and her son bumped into one of those kind souls that day. Hopefully they were able to "pay it forward" to someone else! Amanda Fini , Georgetown Trusting mom, stranger owed apologies Dear editor, Re: Mother was too trusting letter, March 9. While I can understand a newspaper's desire to incite public outrage in the "letters to the editor" section, I am puzzled why you would allow Matt Penny to turn a mother's attempt at thanks into an attack on her, the gentleman who offered the gift to her child and to society as a whole. I am afraid that I must step up to Mr. Penny's challenge and call him "jaded" as he wishes. This world is no different from any other time period. What is different is the public willingness to jump on the bandwagon of negativity promoted by the media and empty people who truly see the world as a bad place. A stranger's offer of a gift to a child in the presence of that child's mother-- given the paranoia that is so prevalent today-- should be seen not only as an act of kindness, but one of bravery. I commend both the giver and the mother. This should be seen as hope that sometimes nice things can happen. Children have that magic ability to warm adult hearts and inspire kindness. Mr. Penny's concept of parenting is skewed by ignorance-- he is not a father. As a parent, I take offense at his attack on a mother and someone simply being nice. What was The Independent & Free Press hoping to achieve in printing this letter? I believe you both owe the "nice man" and the mother an apology. Frank Loreto, Georgetown