Monday, 7 May 2012
Wednesday, 2 May 2012
Up the pole - or round the bend?
By now, just about everyone on the island will have noticed that the hydro poles between the post office and the ferry have been primed ready for the 'street art' to be added. Already, the pole by the post office has been painted to represent a pencil embedded in a note pad - though, in my humble opinion, some of the fine lining needs to be made bolder for the less well informed to truly recognise the yellow projectile as a pencil.
And then Gabriolism takes over. What's Gabriolism you may ask?
Well, firstly, it's the need for every member of the community to be personally consulted on everything that might possibly, just possibly, reflect something that they would not, themselves, have chosen. Doesn't matter whether it's on private property (theirs or anyone else's) or on a public highway. That sort of thing shouldn't happen unless I say so.
Secondly, it's the desire to go public with criticism of someone else's actions rather than taking it up with the person that instigated the action. In this case, it's resulted in a local agreement with BC Hydro being sidetracked into the realms of the Islands Trustees and RDN Regional Director. Which probably means that's the last we'll see of it, as they will want to consult the whole world (again) and or risk upsetting the very people that elected them. And, as this is the first time anyone's proposed 'street art' on Gabriola's hydro poles, there's nothing in the planning bylaws to guide a decision. Help! what can we do?
Then, to cap it all, the artists have the temerity to conduct a Straw Poll among Facebook readers to determine whether the whole project is really that important to make it worth forcing through the local government macerator. It was only supposed to be a bit of fun anyway, wasn't it? Wait up - you can't do that, your survey's not statistically accurate (someone's managed to vote twice) - and anyway, who are you to be conducting a survey? Stop it now, before it's too late.
And so it goes on. and on. If it's not smart meters, it's painted poles. And if it's not painted poles, it's fire halls. What happened to common sense? Sure, if it's something that's going to cost me more, then I want to know about it. Otherwise, if it's not in my back yard I'm not too fussed. Many of us came to Gabriola to get away from the petty feuding that seems to mar the civilised world these days. Wrong. These things are important when you don't have anything really important to worry about. Perhaps there are too many people here with not enough to worry about.
And then Gabriolism takes over. What's Gabriolism you may ask?
Well, firstly, it's the need for every member of the community to be personally consulted on everything that might possibly, just possibly, reflect something that they would not, themselves, have chosen. Doesn't matter whether it's on private property (theirs or anyone else's) or on a public highway. That sort of thing shouldn't happen unless I say so.
Secondly, it's the desire to go public with criticism of someone else's actions rather than taking it up with the person that instigated the action. In this case, it's resulted in a local agreement with BC Hydro being sidetracked into the realms of the Islands Trustees and RDN Regional Director. Which probably means that's the last we'll see of it, as they will want to consult the whole world (again) and or risk upsetting the very people that elected them. And, as this is the first time anyone's proposed 'street art' on Gabriola's hydro poles, there's nothing in the planning bylaws to guide a decision. Help! what can we do?
Then, to cap it all, the artists have the temerity to conduct a Straw Poll among Facebook readers to determine whether the whole project is really that important to make it worth forcing through the local government macerator. It was only supposed to be a bit of fun anyway, wasn't it? Wait up - you can't do that, your survey's not statistically accurate (someone's managed to vote twice) - and anyway, who are you to be conducting a survey? Stop it now, before it's too late.
And so it goes on. and on. If it's not smart meters, it's painted poles. And if it's not painted poles, it's fire halls. What happened to common sense? Sure, if it's something that's going to cost me more, then I want to know about it. Otherwise, if it's not in my back yard I'm not too fussed. Many of us came to Gabriola to get away from the petty feuding that seems to mar the civilised world these days. Wrong. These things are important when you don't have anything really important to worry about. Perhaps there are too many people here with not enough to worry about.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)