In my last post, I referred to the letter I'd sent to my local councilor about "jaywalking". But having gotten the snit out of my system, I got arrogant. I thought, "This would be something the local media might be interested in. I should tell them." So I copied the letter to The Scugog Standard and Focus on Scugog, saying I'd let them know if I got a response. I was thinking about my offer to lead a stroll downtown and how fascinating their readers would find my opinions.
I shouldn't have done that. It was unfair to do so after the fact, without informing the original recipients (Councilor Brock, et al). I know how I'd feel if someone did this to me: that I was being ambushed.
It got worse. The Standard published an edited version of my letter to Councilor Brock. That wasn't my intention, but it wasn't the Standard's fault: I should have made my intentions clear. Better yet, I shouldn't have done it at all.
I sent an email of apology to Councilor Brock. And emails of explanation/regret to the Standard and Focus.
To compound the farce, I discovered that my email wasn't working properly. Oh, my messages were being sent all right, but I hadn't been receiving emails for several days. In the meantime, Councilor Brock and Mayor Pearce both thanked me for my original comments, and Councilor Brock seemed to take it all in stride, responding to my apology by saying not to worry about it. I appreciate that.
So apart from some painfully humiliating lessons learned about the hazards of overestimating the importance of my own opinions (a tendency no doubt fed by this blogging business), what has been the result?
Well, no one has offered to go walking with me. But a lot of people have commented on the letter in the Standard. More so than any other letter I've ever had published on any other subject.
And what they're saying goes farther than I was prepared to go publicly, though I generally agree. Most maintain that the principal charm of Port Perry's downtown is to be able to stroll about freely (true). Some would like Queen Street made a pedestrian precinct for a block or two (wouldn't that be nice). A few pointed out that "jaywalking", i.e.: crossing in the middle of the block, is safer than crossing at the corner (it is, if done with awareness: there is traffic from only two directions to consider). One person offered to carry a placard if I wanted to lead a protest march against bollards (no thanks).
It's nice to see my cranky fondness for uninhibited perambulation is shared by others, but I think I'll steer clear of local controversy for a while.
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