BOUQUET To the Children’s Treehouse for the lovely puzzle draw that I won. Much appreciated.
BEEF Driving down the Island Highway, the car in front of me had a licence plate from Saskatchewan. Then a truck near me had a licence plate from California. What’s with that?
BOUQUET To the very friendly and helpful staff at Home Depot. Outstanding service for a ‘big box’ store.
BEEF To the person who is beefing about bus drivers, who are front-line workers by the way, taking a few minutes extra for a break between runs. I have a solution for you. Buy a car.
BOUQUET I experienced the best customer service in decades. Kudos to Best Buy Nanaimo and a special mention to Shanyaa, Kyle and Alex K.
BEEF To the person beefing about using woodstoves. I assume you stay warm with natural gas heat. Which is brought to you by hydraulic fracking which uses tens of millions of litres of water and hundreds of thousands of litres of diesel to frack a single natural gas well. I guess pollution is OK so long as it isn’t in your backyard.
BOUQUET To local Legion volunteers and everyone who supported the annual poppy drive.
BEEF I don’t think that taking advice from leading, experienced doctors and epidemiologists from around the world and listening to front-line workers who have witnessed the effects of the pandemic is being a “Chicken Little.”
BOUQUET To all the drivers who give my dog and I a wide berth when we walk on the unpaved shoulder of Jingle Pot Road. Thank you.
BEEF To Nanaimo council and mayor for contemplating another property tax increase when all other levels of government are trying to alleviate the financial stress that COVID is causing. Give your heads a shake.
BOUQUET To Home Hardware at Brooks Landing and special thanks to Char. You are truly an angel. Your gift of being so helpful with my floor-cleaning tool and then your gift of the carrier will never be forgotten. Thanks again and stay safe.
BEEF To the beefer complaining about those not doing the posted speed. Maybe you should take a look at your speedometer. I have found most of those riding one’s bumper are going well over posted speed. Tailgating is dangerous to you and me both. With COVID it seems everyone is in a big hurry and speeding is the norm. If you ride my bumper I will go even slower, just so you know.
BOUQUET To Rick at the B.C. Liquor Store at Longwood Station, who went out of his way to find my wine when there was none on the shelf. Customer service at its finest.
BEEF We too live on Gulfview Drive, and to complain about motorcycles is nonsense, there are only a few every week. We do not pay higher taxes than we should, as most of the houses on Gulfview are priced between $800,000 to $1.5 million, thus you pay higher taxes than the older and smaller homes on Hammond Bay, which you would know when you move here. We would like to see the barriers taken down to improve traffic flow and if a few bicycles and motorcycles drive through the barriers, good for them to decrease traffic on busy Hammond Bay Road.
BOUQUET Heartfelt gratitude to all the people who built the Seabold stairs, thank you for all of your hard work. It’s wonderful to have the stairs back in our community, they smell so good from the yellow cedar.
BEEF To authorities and those who think wearing masks is the end-all and be-all for addressing the pandemic. If it were, why are cases still climbing? Some healthy skepticism about all of this would be a good thing.
BOUQUET To a very nice security guard at Port Place Shopping Centre who found my eyeglasses at the mall. Thank you a lot.
BEEF First they were bike lane mad now they are traffic-calming crazy. Lost Lake Road is used in winter snow by Laguna residents when even with winter tires it’s hard to get up Malaspina Road. Now they want to have work crews blocking traffic. Little humps don’t work, it’s easier to get over them by speeding up.
BOUQUET To Sheena for her thoughtfulness. We all wear face masks where I work at the Backyard Wild Bird store, but the elastics interfere with my hearing aids. We had talked about this, and two days later, she brought me a head strap for the mask. No problems hearing now.
BEEF To a printing company that laid off a longtime worker, just to call them back at their convenience when they need help. Which is fine. But, when the employee says they can’t go a certain day and gives no reason (because they have an interview with a competing company and it’s none of the previous employer’s business) and the employer threatens to contact the EI counsellor, that’s standing in the way of a new opportunity.
BOUQUET To the Salvation Army Christmas Kettle campaign and to all the kettle volunteers.
BEEF To the person who left their empty frappuccino glass bottle in the middle of the cycling lane on Departure Bay Road.
BOUQUET To the interesting elderly lady who visits a local waterfront pub. There she enjoys herself having a drink while happily writing. What an inspiration to others.
BEEF To those who can wear a mask, but don’t want to be inconvenienced. Would you rather die than be inconvenienced?
BOUQUET To the City of Nanaimo and especially to the crew who redid the Seabold steps. They are visually appealing, comfortable and smell great. So nice to have them again and be able to access the beautiful beach. Thank you.
BEEF To the rascals at Bowen Park who heckled my elderly friends and I. We were trying to have a COVID-safe seniors speed-dating gathering and your noisy ruckus and loud horsing off scared off many female participants. As a retired hard-working taxpayer I’ve earned the right to not have salty slurs yelled at me. Grow up.
BOUQUET Thank you to all those lovely customers who tip the local delivery drivers. Most of us work for minimum wage and the tips really help to pay the bills.
BEEF To people who are burning wet wood and their household garbage in their fireplaces. It creates such a smell and smoulders for hours, I can no longer sleep with my bedroom window open because of the stench of smoke.
BOUQUET To Mid Island Towing. These folks brought out their trucks in the pouring rain to give a happy 75th birthday drive-by. These are the people that make a community special. Thank you.
BEEF To the city for not keeping up the parking lots at Neck Point, Westwood Lake and the road at Beban Park. The pot holes are so deep and so many – please fill with gravel.
BOUQUET Thanks to the father/son quad explorers who helped out two hikers who had taken a wrong turn on the logging road near the Abyss hiking area. It took their two-seater quad three trips to take the hikers, then themselves, back to all of our cars. Your kindness was certainly appreciated and the quad ride was an exciting experience.
BEEF To the City of Nanaimo for not enforcing cat licences. An article is written and there’s public outcry and you decide not to go through with it. Cats roam wild in this city with some people owning five and six cats, doing their business in every one else’s yard, killing birds. Maybe dog owners should make an outcry to revoke dog licences. Dogs and cats should be licensed. It’s long overdue.
BOUQUET Thank you to those who tip the newspaper delivery person. Given that we have lost a day’s pay since March, when the paper started publishing once a week instead of twice a week, the tips are appreciated more than ever this year. Merry Christmas everyone, and here’s to a better 2021.
BEEF How is it that the City of Nanaimo has money for bike paths while people experiencing homelessness line their streets? Do they not realize that the pandemic has left many more people hungry? Shouldn’t food, clothing, and shelter take precedence over bike paths? As a society, we need to stop this reckless spending. I agree with the man who stated, “If we don’t reach down and pick up the poor, the sheer weight of them will pull us down too.”
BOUQUET To the staff at Woodgrove Centre who assisted me after an unruly anti-masker kicked me in my privates. Your ice pack and soothing manner made a terrible experience better. Also, beef to the man who kicked me. Can’t we all just get along in these stressful times without resorting to such things?
BEEF To the driver who ran a red light and sped through the pedestrian crosswalk at the intersection of Fifth Street and Georgia Avenue. You came very close to hitting me while I was in the crosswalk. Bouquet to the pedestrians who witnessed the near accident and made sure I was OK.
BOUQUET To the Nanaimo News Bulletin. We just moved to Cedar and look forward to grabbing our local paper to read every page.
BEEF To the delivery drivers who don’t wear masks and stand so close they’re basically breathing on you.
BOUQUET To the City of Nanaimo for looking after Colliery Dam Park so well. On a sunny, calm day the trees are beautifully reflected in the water, the white snow berries look like Xmas ornaments and someone has decorated a tree. A lovely, peaceful place to enjoy nature and take your dog for a walk.
BEEF Shame on the City of Nanaimo and the RCMP for responding to the fire on Wesley Street with a display of sheer power and bullying. How we treat others, especially vulnerable, marginalized people is a measure of our ethics. Removing the people living there in such an aggressive manner while hotels are vacant is a sad commentary on our regard for others.
BOUQUET Just because we don’t bang on pots and pans anymore at 7 p.m. on Fillinger Crescent does not mean we’ve forgotten all our medical people at the hospital who work so hard during this COVID-19 time.
BEEF By the golf course, at the old Island Highway at Rock City Road, a man was dragging and choking a brown skinny dog on a short leash. He also knocked it to the ground. I had no phone to call police. Disgusting. Karma is coming, buddy.
BOUQUET To Eileen L., our valued administrative assistant and friendly voice and face of eight years at Widsten Property Management. She retired and we wish her all the best in her new adventures. Thank you for all your love, attention and support over many years. You will be deeply missed.
BOUQUET To the owners on Opal Road whose Christmas lights display is absolutely wonderful, including gigantic inflatables. A must-see for everyone on this year’s light tour.
BOUQUET To Rachel at Save-On-Foods pharmacy at Country Club Centre for going that extra mile for me. I really do appreciate your kindness.
BOUQUET To VCA Island Animal hospital for tending to a injured and dying heron found in my backyard. They were the only folks who would help and I appreciate their concern and compassion. A special thank you to the staff member who rushed out to my yard to retrieve this beautiful bird and the vet who tended to it at the hospital.
BOUQUET To the fabulous medical team in the ER who seamlessly assessed me and gave me a reboot on my heart rate today. Especially to Victoria who made me feel at home again and Caitlin and Jo for getting me there and home again. Stay well all.
BOUQUET I would like to thank the personnel at Canada Post on East Wellington Road. Twice this year they have, without hesitation, helped me out. Many kudos to you and all good wishes for a safe and healthy Christmas and may the best of luck follow you through 2021.
BOUQUET To everyone who is doing their best to stay positive and polite this holiday season. Your family, friends, co-workers and everyone in the retail/service business appreciate it.
BOUQUET To the paramedics, firefighters, RCMP, and staff at NRGH who responded to our 911 call when our daughter had a knitting needle puncture her side. You were all calm, courteous, professional and deeply kind, we will never be able to thank you fully. For your care and service, we will always be indebted to you.
To submit a beef or a bouquet to the Nanaimo News Bulletin, e-mail editor@nanaimobulletin.com.
