That’s OK, you can keep your opinions to yourselves, thank y’all very much.

From your air-conditioned 4x4 hurtling by on Highway 395 or from the deck of your fishing boat rolling gently on the water of one of our lakes, you could never see the giving nature of our community or how we pull together when one of us is in trouble.

Ah, what we could show you if you had a few days — the right few days — to spend with us.

We all know about the many spaghetti dinners put on for cancer sufferers by Kim Baxley, the waitress at Diamond Mountain Casino, and her fellow casino employees.

The spaghetti dinners make almost 100 percent profit because the employees donate the labor, the casino donates the facility and many local businesses donate food and raffle items — many want to make their donations anonymously, so their names are never printed or recognized.

They don’t do it for the recognition — they do it because it’s one way they can support their community, the people who make their businesses successful.

Many local families have benefited from these functions, helping them find a way to pay medical or travel expenses or pay the day-to-day bills that pile up when a family member is so ill.

When a fire destroys a home in our community, we rally together to help with food, clothing and shelter.

Those of us who live in Lassen County don’t need to be reminded of our character.

Last week, a new group of folks — most of the candidates running for public office in the June 5 primary election — selflessly stepped forward to support the needy senior citizens in our community by working as servers at El Tepeyac Grille on Main Street in Susanville.

The candidates and all the crew working that evening generously donated all their tips to Lassen Senior Services.

The restaurant even donated 5 percent of its sales to the effort — generating nearly $1,200 in just a few hours on a Tuesday evening.

This spirit abounds in our community — a spirit many larger communities sorely lack.

The giving nature of our people truly sets us apart from much of the rest of the state. When someone needs help, the community responds.

Kudos to the candidates, the restaurant workers and the diners who stepped forward to help our local senior citizens in in need.

Lassen Family Services supplies hot meals to hundreds of seniors in Lassen County, many of whom are homebound and whose only hot meal of the day or of the week comes from Lassen Senior Services.

We can work together to make a difference in Lassen County, and we do. Let those big city yokels whizzing by at 70 miles an hour think what they will. Let them have their high rises and their impersonal neighborhoods.

Congratulations to all those who worked to help the agency that feeds many of our senior citizens. You made our little corner of the world a happier and better place.