Baby Plus Bath Water

Here on Cortes, the month of November has been turbulent. It usually is. We've been punk-slapped by the weather a few times, taking internet service, the ferries and electricity from us a each time. Intra-island travel has been interrupted by fallen trees, too.

Mother Nature's ruckus might also serve as a metaphor for the turmoil between and among island residents, plus, a faceless multinational corporation versus Cortesians of many stripes.

Example number one pits our esteemed recycling program against miscreants who left a huge mess at the entry to the center. At the gate there are retired deep freezers used by people who bring bagged trash after hours. That's a thoughtful, people-centered solution to that problem. Protects flora and fauna, too. No one enjoys cleaning up messes made by people with no regard for the common good, even people whose job it is to clean up the messes upon which we have agreed will be cleaned up for the common good. That makes sense, too. Their disquiet is justified.

Some of the refuse was identifiable. The woman who runs the operation wished to post their names on Tideline in her post entitle Black Thursday. That request was denied, also, understandable as all questions a reasonable person might ask about the event had not been asked yet, never mind answered. That was lost on the Recycling brain trust and those names were posted on the Facebook page kept by the center.  A citizen whose name had been posted objected and made a good case why his name should never have suffered public vilification. It was a persuasive argument. Since his response, as best as I can determine the names have been removed. I see nowhere an acknowledgement from anyone the pillorying him in public was a mistake. I am hopeful that wrong was righted, at least in private.

In the original Black Thursday post was this.
"The freezers have been removed because of these few careless unthinking idiots everyone pays. Shame on you from everyone who used this option properly. "


I would question the wisdom of that decision. As far as I can tell that myopic edict stands as it has not been retracted either on Tideline or on the center's Facebook page. There's no logic in this solution. There never is when innocent people are treated the same as the not-so-innocent. Allow me to add my voice to that choir seeking return of the freezers. The quality of the idea is not diminished by the "careless unthinking idiots."


An obsevation: the photos posted on Facebook gave me the impression that the individuals responsible for the heinous act were breaking up housekeeping: coat hangers, TVs and other things.  Anyone else draw that conclusion?


More tomorrow...