By Cindy Ling People say Powell River is a friendly town and to some degree I have to side with that but, like anywhere else, there is always a need for improvement.
The town has its faults and it shows throughout the year, but especially around Christmas time when I find it at its most rudest.
There are three major pet peeves I have and that is why I choose to live south of town, yes, in the sticks. I hate driving in town and always plan if I can go in early, to get out just as early and intact.
In virtually every parking lot, the speeding is horrendous. As a pedestrian, of any age or size, you are forced into stealth mode. Your target: a store or a car. You scope out your surrounding like a gopher, bobbing your head over vehicle hoods, looking left then right down the lanes, watching and waiting for the precise moment to make your move. The enemy: oblivious drivers.
There are ones who cut across the lot in their caffeine-deprived fixation to be first in the drive-through; some who are in a state of blinding panic to get to their next destination; others try to get to the closest parking stall as they lose feeling in their legs at the thought of walking more than three feet.
There is no specific age of these drivers; the gene pool is not discriminating and encompasses all.
My next pet peeve is drivers at a gas station in town. At this gas station there are parking spaces beside the store, but people often park in front of the store instead. This creates obvious problems for people fueling up at the gas bars to try and manoeuvre around them. Two days before Christmas I was at the gas bar filling jerry cans. My full-sized truck was parked further ahead than normal. A woman in a mid-sized car drove up and parked in front of the store, blocking my exit. I was ready to leave. I could not make it out without having to back the truck up to make the turn and avoid crunching her car. As I made the turn she opened her door and stepped out without looking. I left the gas station in disgust, proving my point that this is why I live south of town.
The final peeve is in store isles. The worst culprits to blocking store isles when you are shopping is women, doesn’t matter the age or with or without children in tow. It is not exclusive to stores—any event in this town, be it a craft fair, garage sale, play, et cetera. They always have to block the right of way, with or without cart, to have a long chit-chat with one another. You are faced with having to make them move, potentially interrupting a conversation that could have saved and freed mankind as we know it. Or, you try to avoid confrontation by canvassing the isles before approaching and taking an alternate route, but invariably you become trapped. For everyone’s piece of mind, please move over.
This may all sound like the ravings of a redneck from the sticks, and to some extent it is, but common sense and plain respect of others has gone out the window, especially around holiday times. Whether you are blue collar or white collar in this town, have common courtesy for one another throughout the year. Stupid does not discriminate.
Cindy Ling is a resident living south of town.
