To the editor:

The other day I was waiting in the ferry line when I saw a pretty nice Lexus SUV idling while we waited — upon closer inspection I noticed a small child in the backseat, and figured they were running the A/C to keep the child comfortable, even though it wasn’t oppressively hot.

The thought that these people were abusing the planet didn’t occur to me, and, if it had, I would have quickly concluded that the impact on the climate was negligible, particularly in light of the pollution contributed by our neighbors in Asia and elsewhere who don’t even have cars to idle. Spit in the ocean, capiche?

However, one of the more enlightened among us saw fit to speak with the Lexus folks and then to criticize them in a screed in this newspaper.

From George The Enlightened One’s account, the Lexus driver behaved like an adult, rolling up his window quickly. I presume that is why George needed to scold all of “supposedly enlightened Bainbridge” — suggesting we are all doomed if we don’t stop idling our cars. For good measure, George played the white privilege card, in case you are bad at signaling.

George, if you’re reading this, please remember your manners, and MYOB. And leave those nice people in Oklahoma out of it — what did they ever do to you? I’ve been to Oklahoma and can say that people there are just like people here except they have fewer people like you.

TIM WALSH

Bainbridge Island