I was dismayed by the item in Thursday’s (Oct. 3) Police Beat about the individual who was “acting strangely” at Copy Service.

Have we criminalized unusual behavior to the point that a rather complete physical description need be published in the newspaper? Am I to conclude that we should all be on the lookout for such an individual?

I believe this “news” item sadly reflects the level of intolerance our society displays toward individual differences in general and mental illness in particular. Differences can be enriching, enjoyable, and fascinating as we don’t allow our personal sense of normalcy to be threatened.

James J. Biederman

Graduate Student

Psychology