Letter to the editor: Her success not 'cosmic luck'

With all due respect to letter-writer Thomas C. Spallone (“Cosmic luck,” Jan. 18, TribLIVE): Yes, I was born in America. M grandparents came to this country as legal immigrants. The security I enjoy today was not given to me by others.

My father was an unemployed coal miner, my mother a housewife. I went to a one-room schoolhouse and graduated from a rural high school. My first job paid 95 cents and hour; the second paid $1.25 an hour. I decided I wanted more, and knew I had to work for it — no one was going to give it to me. It took me nine years, but I earned a business degree at Pitt. I still wanted more, so I earned degrees in engineering and accounting.

Yes, I do have a good life, but I worked for it. Did you work that hard? You are of the opinion that I got something — everything — for nothing.

Maybe you received a free ride. Maybe you came from the upper class. Most of the people I know worked for what they have. How much do you donate to help the needy in America? Do you volunteer? I do. Are you willing to take in a dozen or so illegal immigrants? Perhaps you want your neighbors to support your views so you can sit back and relax.

People like me are still giving back to our nation. Maybe you should move to a border town so you can help these illegal immigrants.

Madeline Smutak

Greensburg