Gripes:

Political calls. They call over and over again, up to 10 times a day. I use my own research to decide who to vote for or against.

— Anonymous

My gripe is men who try to buy you gifts after being told repeatedly you are not interested.

— Anonymous

Gripe: All those reality shows and shows glorifying the security camera, phone tap, invasion of privacy propaganda. It is never OK to invade someone’s privacy or trample their rights “for a greater good.” It’s a slippery slope that leads to bad bad things.

— Anonymous

What about people who enjoy receiving mail, holiday cards and packages, but fail to reciprocate. It’s selfish to receive and never give back.

— Anonymous

Why do people assume a woman MUST want to be married or have children? It’s 2011, not 1950!

— Anonymous

Gushes:

I love that we’re keeping recycling in Auburn. I don’t love the every-other-week schedule. It confuses the neighbors. . . . Also, two bins? I hope they plan to give out extra bins. . . . Still, I’m glad we have recycling. It’s vital.

— Anonymous

Pumpkin decals. What a clever idea. Saved the day when the animals started to eat my pumpkins and rot set in. They made faces on the rotten things quite nicely.

— Anonymous

The lovely lavender lights on the Auburn City Building seem to be a wonderful way to get into the holiday spirit.

— Anonymous

The new cable converter boxes brought one nice thing: a music video station that plays (gasp) music videos!

— Anonymous

Gripes and Gushes offers readers a chance to chide and to cheer. Bring it on! But references to specific people, businesses, agencies, etc. will not be used, in order to keep us all out of legal trouble and to make the column general enough to appeal to all. Send your Gripes and Gushes to [email protected] or snail mail to Gripes and Gushes, b section, Sun Journal, 104 Park St., Lewiston ME 04243.