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Sarasota News Leader August 23, 2013 OPINION Page 63 arms about receiving traffic tickets with hefty "Yes, one may consider the red light fines to fines, decreases in accidents with loss of life be a form of tax, but remember, we didn't renotwithstanding. re-re-install the parking meters." Voters would Perhaps every time the subject of fines for feel happy about not having to feed the meters running red lights comes up at City Commis- and might even feel sorry for the commissionsion meetings, the commissioners should say, ers, thinking the latter were stuttering. % HUMANITY: THE SPRINGS PROVIDE INSIGHTS INTO THE PAST AND PRESENT By Bill Goetz Guest Columnist COMMENTARY Most modern residents of our area feel a detachment from the humans of past millennia who inhabited the land we live in. We do not seem to relate to the people who lived, loved and died here thousands of years ago. Some of us feel that no relationship exists between "us" and "them" — that a distinct separation exists between peoples of now and then. themselves in the environments of the past, which could be harsh and unforgiving. Remains discovered of those crippled from birth indicate they survived into their late teens, benefiting from the nurturing of others in a time when people had to work hard every day just to survive. When one talks about examples of our cultural heritage found at archaeological sites that reveal so much about our past, people also wonder how these items relate to them. Humanity's past is a mystery into which many have spent their lives trying to get just a small glimpse. Understanding how we relate to each other can be difficult enough just in our present society. When we add in the difficulties of learning how humans lived and died in the past, it can become an overwhelming task. Part of that derives from the fact that most of our ancestors arrived from other continents. Some of us with Native American ancestors do feel a stronger connection with people of the past who lived here. However, all of us share a human connection with them. As humanity lived and died in this place, we of the present live and will die here as well. People of the past also raised and cared for their chilWe have come up with concepts such as that dren as we do today. of "prehistory," denoting the absence of writAdditionally, we have found evidence of peo- ten language — even though there are forms ple caring for those who could not care for of oral history and traditions that have con-