Sometimes I wish infants weren’t allowed on airplanes. Why should one family experience the joy of travel at the agony of the other 200 passengers on the plane?
I’m also endlessly annoyed by the traffic on the Old Island Highway during tourist season and don’t even get me started about the red light that comes into my living room because of the newly painted red building right next door to me.
And the worst of the worst? The little kids that run around upstairs and make the lights over my bed rattle.
Do any of these things annoy you? Lets get together and do something about it!
Ban babies from airplanes, keep them away from their long distance elderly grandparents. And if their families have to move for some reason, make them take a boat or drive across the country, or maybe they should just leave them behind.
Make the Old Island Highway a ‘locals only’ road. Redirect the traffic around to the New Highway, the businesses in Willow Point won’t notice the decrease in traffic.
As for that building next door? Maybe city council should have bylaws against red buildings. Business owners cannot be trusted to choose colours that won’t interfere with the happiness and comfort of their neighbours.
And those little kids running around and having fun in the middle of the day when I shouldn’t be in bed anyway, they should think of someone besides themselves.
Any of this sound ridiculous?
Good. It’s supposed to.
I am 100 per cent willing to be a little bit uncomfortable, or irritated for a small portion of my time, so that others can visit their family with their newborn, or enjoy the beauty of our oceanside city, or attract clients to their business with brightly coloured buildings. As for the kids? They, and their families never have to apologize to me for running around.
In fact, I think kids should run around even more.
At the end of the day change that disrupts my life is annoying. Other peoples noise makes sleeping, talking and concentrating more difficult. My neighbours choices make my view, inside and outside my house different than I would prefer.
I believe there are times when we should stand up for ourselves and what we want, for example I marched in the Take Back the Night walk and I will do it again, but then there are times when we should take a deep breathe and stop, in the name of progress, in the name of advancement for families and local businesses. It might feel like holding our tongue, but in the end we all benefit.
Don’t ever stop asking questions and demanding that things be done the safe, responsible and ethical way. I’m just suggesting looking at the bigger picture, even bigger than the span of your own life, and choosing your battles wisely.
Let the tourists come, let the kids play and let the multi-family houses be built.
