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Complainers walk narrow line
(by Barbara Christian - September 19, 2012)
Complainers walk narrow line
There’s a lot of complaining going on around here lately, and I ought to know, because I am a world-class complainer. You know it too if you read this space on a regular basis.
As a longtime complainer, I’ve come to learn one thing. You gotta pick your fights and your gripes and concentrate on the big stuff. But somehow these new-age complainers are clueless to this. The silly things that get their goat don’t rise to a level of universal outrage.
The small complaints became an official part of the record last week, when a Chagrin Falls councilman brought them up during the “any miscellaneous from council” part of the group’s regular meeting.
Gravely, the councilman related stories from constituents who had his ear on a whole slew of beefs. In fact, these complaints were so serious, he told his colleagues, one of council’s committees should be deal with them and come up with some solutions.
But which committee would this be? Which one is best suited to be the village’s complaint department?
So what are these gripes? Well, first off, there is the annual “concern” for the motorcycle guys who park on the Main Street bridge, stand around and smoke. Some folks say they should be banned, because they block the sidewalk in front of a certain coffee shop. Open-air smoking and standing in one place too long ought to be forbidden, moan the offended.
But that would become a slippery slope really fast, because, if they enforce a ban on smoking and standing on one side of the bridge, they are going to have to enforce it on the other side too. Meaning the more clean-cut smokers and standers who congregate in front of a certain popcorn shop.
Then there were those who complained to the councilman about the sidewalk cafes blocking the sidewalk when chairs get pushed too far outside the invisible perimeter. Wouldn’t a simple “excuse me” solve the problem?
And sidewalk diners also let their dogs sit at their tables. But aren’t dogs their humans’ best friends? Why is this even an issue?
Who knew there were so many sidewalk police? Or non-lovers of dogs, for that matter, because another bitch had to do with canines creating sidewalk “dog jams” when they stop for a sniff. Where is everyone going in such a hurry that they can’t wait while a couple of pups say hello in their own special way?
Last but not least were those who told the councilman how all of the above — from the bikers and smokers to sidewalk cafes and dogs — are a special problem for strollers. When did strollers become the standard by which we regulate everything else?
We wonder, how council will make the complainers happy without stepping on the pleasurable activities of others? Can they strike a happy medium between the two without cutting the baby in half?
It will be interesting to see whether council, which tends toward the conservative, takes the bait of complaining constituents and passes a bunch of new rules to placate the dyspeptic.
But they wouldn’t have to play Solomon if everyone would practice tolerance and do what folks once did when faced with the irritations of living in a free society. They would take a deep breath, count to 10, remember to “live and let live” then pick the fights that matter.
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