BEEF To the people who do not heed the advice yet blame the of the Ministry of Health for an out-of-control pandemic.
BOUQUET To the Shaw service man who went out of his way, after a long day, to repair and return my PVR with the programs I had saved for my grandchildren.
BEEF There must be a special place in hell reserved for people who send their jigsaw puzzles to a thrift store when they are missing pieces.
BOUQUET To my neighbour for bringing me over a beautiful gift on Christmas Day, knowing my family couldn’t come over because of COVID-19. It was much appreciated.
BEEF To the person who travelled from the U.K. I’m not going to pass judgment. I don’t know your circumstance. I don’t know whether your travel was essential. This is my opinion: You should be brought before a court of law to establish whether your travel was essential. If not, then you should be charged with reckless endangerment of the public.
BOUQUET Thank you for the calendar included with the News Bulletin. Much appreciated.
BEEF Regarding the fireplace/wood stove debate, it is not just the bad particles these wood-burning appliances are sending out of your chimney. Please do some research about all the particles you are releasing into your home.
BOUQUET To whoever found and handed in my wallet at Woodgrove Centre on New Year’s Eve, it must have fallen out of the car when I dropped my girlfriend off for work. Thank you so much. I hope good things come your way.
BEEF To the beefer about going slower when you are being tailgated. Why do you think you are being tailgated? Learn the rules, be safe, stop being a nuisance and move to the right lane. Tailgating, flashing, honking, swerving are all internationally recognized signs of move over or speed up. You also risk your health looking for trouble like that with road rage incidents in this town.
BOUQUET To Dana from London Drugs and the community for purchasing all the beautiful gifts for our amazing seniors at Woodgrove Manor. You truly brought joy and happiness into our home this Christmas.
BEEF To my grandson’s stepmother. Please stop bragging on social media on how great of a mom you are. You’re not his mother. And here’s a tip – be a little nicer, it’ll go a long way.
BOUQUET To the stand-up guy who gave me a jump start at the recycling depot on Hayes Road and to Discount Battery Warehouse for their excellent service and warranty. A happy new year and all the best in 2021 to you.
BEEF To the city’s public works department for leaving us with no garbage pickup for 19 days throughout the busy holiday season. We’re paying for weekly pickup and you’re taking one of those days off for yourself.
BOUQUET To the older couple walking the E&N Trail picking up trash as a team, one holding the bag, the other holding the grabber. Your actions and exchange of ‘happy new year’ made me smile.
BEEF To the company that had given multiple employees a raise, then took it away before Christmas and is now expecting them to pay the company back.
BOUQUET A much-deserved bouquet to the health care aides on floor six at Nanaimo hospital. Your kindness, hard work and professionalism are second to none. Working with you is a joy. You make a huge difference in the life of your patients.
BEEF To Dr. Bonnie Henry. Publishing a book right now should be seen as war profiteering. Absolutely disgusting but not surprising.
BOUQUET To all those workers who don’t have a powerful union to tell the public how hard they work and how stressful their job is, but they quietly show up and do their job perhaps with a cut in pay and deliver services to us at considerable risk to themselves and their families. We are all working hard. We are all feeling stressed. We get it. I find the advertising disingenuous and in some cases self-serving.
BEEF I have a hard time believing there is/was excessive speeding on Opal Road, a road barely 300 metres long, with two 90-degree turns and a speed bump in each straight portion. My question is, how did the activist Opal residents get the city to spend tens of thousands of dollars on their pet project?
BOUQUET To the staff at McDonald’s on Bowen Road for their excellent service for remembering I like my coffee with a cup of ice. It’s the little things that count.
BEEF We were at a restaurant Christmas Day; we have been there many times and enjoyed the food. This time was not acceptable. First, it was so cold and they did not turn up the heat. Then we had to wait 45 minutes before our meal came. Next there was this rubber thing in my husband’s meal. We complained and they did not even apologize. When my husband asked to be compensated, they only gave us 10 per cent off.
BOUQUET To Funk Revival. My sweetie loved the large selection of men’s tees. Best anywhere he says, which is something coming from him.
BEEF Must be nice about the BC/49 win as the draw before that I also got five out of six numbers on the BC/49 but I only got $737.
BOUQUET The three of us in our immediate family usually always get colds three times a year. That didn’t happen in 2020 – no one has been ill at all. This is a good indication that wearing a mask actually works.
BEEF Shame on the Chinese restaurant that uses peanuts instead of almonds on their almond chicken. This is not right.
BOUQUET To my husband Bruce for bringing me coffee every morning, feeding the birds even in the rain, but most of all because of his wonderful renovations that have made every house we have lived in our home.
BEEF To the fitness company in Nanaimo. I’ve never felt worse about myself thanks to you girls. Won’t be back.
BOUQUET To Mark the retiring firefighter. Thank you so very much for your many years of service to our community. Our best wishes to you for a well-deserved retirement.
BEEF To the City of Nanaimo. Two crosswalks on Hammond Bay Road near Brickyard are still not lit despite a student losing his life at one of them. On dark rainy nights it is extremely hard to see pedestrians who are very often in dark clothing. I see new bright street lamps going up around town, please prioritize these crosswalks before another tragedy occurs there.
BOUQUET To the person who left a Starbucks gift card on our windshield at the Legion as a ‘random act of kindness.’ It will definitely be paid forward.
BEEF To people who ask small, local businesses for discounts and sales all the time. We have expenses to cover – rent, payroll, stock, supplies, etc. – without the huge buying power of national brands. To offer sale pricing and still be able to survive, we would need to mark up our original prices. We would rather offer fair prices all the time.
BOUQUET Thank you to the gentleman who paid for my groceries while I was shopping at Save-On-Foods on New Year’s Eve.
BEEF How is it that with billions of our dollars to spend, the B.C. government is incapable of providing a COVID-19 phone service or a recovery benefit website that works?
BOUQUET To Laurie at Medical Arts front desk, you make us minorities feel welcomed. You’re awesome.
BEEF To the fast-food restaurant manager who was very rude and condescending. My order was wrong so I wanted it to be fixed; he was rude and as he walked away he muttered something inappropriate. The girl working did apologize for the manager’s lack of managerial skills.
BOUQUET To School District 68 staff. These front-line workers have supported our children and families with integrity, courage, and intelligent leadership. Many parents and children are the grateful beneficiaries of their commitment to protecting our educational community, modelling good citizenship, personal responsibility and freedom of choice. A special thank you to staff at Park Avenue Elementary and John Barsby Secondary.
BEEF To the federal government and media for falsely stating that borders are closed. People can and have been flying around since COVID began.
BOUQUET Thank you Ryan from the News Bulletin for your kindness in assisting me when I needed help entering a contest. Your politeness and patience made my day. Happy new year. With my warmest wishes to all at the News Bulletin.
BEEF The Mostar Road project was the worst project in the existence of the City of Nanaimo. You made the street so narrow nobody who visits houses along the street has a chance to park on the side of the street. The road is so narrow that two cars can barely pass. Waste of taxpayers’ money. It is the main road for so many people who live nearby and it’s so bad.
BOUQUET To all the staff at LifeLabs Ladysmith – their caring and professional service means so much.
Beefs & Bouquets continue below
Beefs of the Year 2020 https://t.co/DOKjRAHfXF
— Nanaimo Bulletin (@NanaimoBulletin) January 1, 2021
BOUQUET To Lorna who so kindly paid for my Starbucks order. It absolutely made my day. I will be paying it forward in the future.
BEEF To people burning wet wood in their stoves, choking out all their neighbours’ precious space and sanctity with acrid carcinogens. Very unpleasant and inconsiderate. We cannot even open our windows. Please!
BOUQUET To Stone Soup kitchen making sure street folks are feed nightly. Gaylene and Nate are the ones with their awesome crew who make sure pre-packaged meals are ready.
BEEF I own a cat and it’s OK if you want to license them, also to limit the numbers per household for any type of pet. No to leashes; they would have to start as kittens. Cats sleep 16 or more hours a day. When they go out they are your best natural rodent deterrent, especially living near water where rodents thrive. What about all the dogs that are free to run around after 5 p.m.?
BOUQUET To Dana, staff and customers at London Drugs, Nanaimo North Town Centre, for their generous contribution to our seniors at Arrowsmith Lodge and Cokely Manor. From the bottom of our hearts, thank you.
BEEF To the appliance store for knowingly selling a fraudulent extended warranty package on my barely two-year-old dishwasher. They refuse to deal with it even after acknowledging there is no company in Nanaimo that will service the machine I bought from them that is now leaking all over my floor. You knew I was on disability and was searching for the best dishwasher that would last. Scam alert.
BOUQUET Thanks to all the awesome folks still leaving their Christmas lights on in Cilaire area. They light up the dark, wet nightly walks with my shelties. Awesome neighbourhood.
BEEF To our provincial health officer. You want us to follow the science, show us the science. Show us the evidence to support why churches can’t be open with limited attendance, but malls, airports and big box stores can be packed with people. You work for us.
BOUQUET To the Mary Brown’s Chicken franchise that is opening soon. Can’t wait!
BEEF To the RCMP. Why are you not ticketing every single snowbird in an RV that is here for non-essential travel? It’s apparently the law.
BOUQUET To Brian and Mike from B.C. Hydro whose quick thinking and kindness helped prevent a more serious situation at a work site. Thank you both for sticking around to help. Good karma for 2021!
BEEF To the officials in the City of Nanaimo who think that having a budget of tens of thousands per homeless person to sustain their livelihoods is fair to people who work and seem to be making ends barely meet at a much lower income. How does this make sense?
BOUQUET It seemed like a great idea to remove the oven door, dismantle it and clean it, but I tried and tried to figure out how to get it back together; I just couldn’t do it. I called Barron’s and was able to take it to John who fixed it within five minutes. Now all I had to do was get the oven door back on, easy. Not quite. So I call Barron’s again and Ken arrived with the proper tools and spent 45 minutes on my kitchen floor, trying to figure out why this door is not co-operating. He got it fixed; he was pleasant and refused payment. I appreciate their efforts and they now have me as a customer for life.
BEEF To the dog owners who let their dogs run loose on the artificial fields at Beban Park. Do you realize kids are playing on this field? There is an off-leash park that is less than 50 metres away. But I guess you don’t want to get your shoes dirty. The city should post bigger signs.
BOUQUET To Ms. Tolsma for making Grade 11 English so engaging and interesting. For the first time ever, one of my kids is enjoying English. I love the social justice perspective you bring.
BEEF To the woman going through the intersection of Hammond Bay Road and Aulds Road. You turned left from Aulds Road onto Highway 19A, running a red light, forcing me to yield to you. Then you headed for the right lane as a driver was turning onto the highway from Hammond Bay. You blasted your horn at that driver when you were totally in the wrong again. Time for you to read up on the rules of the road.
BOUQUET Thank you to Island Health and Dr. Calvin for helping me to keep my father at home for his last two months. Your encouragement helped me through those last days.
BEEF To the regional district for allowing the trash to build up and just left on the side of Cedar Road and in the woods in the surrounding area from the birds. Send some of your workers out there and clean it up. It’s a disgusting mess.
BOUQUET To Sharon and Josh at Fit Body Boot Camp. Despite COVID-19 restrictions, they are going above and beyond to deliver their members exceptional workouts and nutrition coaching via Zoom. Thanks for working so hard to keep everyone safe, staying positive and helping members continue to work on their fitness goals. Best gym ever.
BEEF To Nanaimo council for wasting staff resources and our taxes to make self-promotional videos. These scarce taxpayer dollars could have been used to deliver important public safety messages. Get your priorities straight.
BOUQUET Although we don’t have a regular carrier, we can depend on Gord to deliver the News Bulletin to us, rain or shine.
BEEF To all the drivers who are not aware that their vehicle does not have daytime running lights. I am on the road to and from Parksville every day and cannot believe all the cars that have no tail lights during the day. You are very hard to see in the rain and that makes you dangerous to everyone on the road. The life you save may be your own.
BOUQUET To the officer who pulled me over by the airport. I was speeding and he caught me fair and square. He came to my window, gave me a friendly reminder to slow down, and then didn’t give me a ticket. Thank you, and message received.
To submit a beef or a bouquet to the Nanaimo News Bulletin, e-mail editor@nanaimobulletin.com.
