Thank you for your cartoon “Trick or Treat” in the Oct. 21 issue. As an educator, I really appreciated it.

I thought I’d draw you a cartoon based on my own experience. I used your starting salary figure (although with a master’s degree I would start at $43,000 in our area) and highlighted a few factors of teaching. My medical sales representative figure draws from my knowledge of my former neighbor. She has a bachelor’s degree, earned $60,000 and bragged about her 30 hour work weeks. Her job entailed giving out gift baskets and throwing luncheons for doctors to persuade them to use the medical imaging company she worked for. Can you hear the bitterness in my voice? Part of that bitterness stems from my parent’s situation. Even though they had insurance, when my mom took ill and ended up in a nursing home, their life savings were wiped out by outrageous medical bills. I am currently not teaching (back in school trying to switch to a career that will support myself and two children) and pay $5,000 a year for health coverage. I should not be bitter, but simply acknowledge I chose a career that does not pay enough to support a family.

Again, thank you. I know far too many teachers who have left the field because the work is hard and the pay depressing.

Frankie Allen, Kirkland