I went to Costco last night to battle the hordes and pick up a few ‘last minute’ Christmas gifts. I would embark on an “I remember when” rant, but that’s not my point this morning.
Costco has always had this kind of dangerous area where all the traffic cuts across where all the shoppers walk up to the store. This is not so unusual, I guess but after nearly getting run over by grannies a few times, I have to be extra careful there.
So last night, I see it is now like a bunker over there. There is a stop sign, a one way traffic diversion, concrete barriers and a security guard directing traffic. No kidding. It’s like Stephen Harper was going to shop at Costco or something.
Which leads me to believe that something must have happened. Someone must have gotten smacked in the arse by car and now they are taking drastic steps.
Funny how we always wait until something bad happens before we do something – even though the average joe can see it coming.
It’s like the moose crossing signs. Ever wonder why they put them up in certain areas? After cars have been smacked enough times.
We see the same thing in economic development. A mill closure in Dalhousie? The political posse rides in and shouts “we shall overcome”. A mill closure in Miramichi? Don’t worry. We’ll give another million and assign someone to do “seek and find” – whatever that means these days.
They have known this was coming for months. In fact, they have known that a major forestry crisis was coming for years. But we only get the “seek and find” guy coming in after a major catastrophe.
How about a little proactivity here? How about putting up that moose sign after 500 people have called to say there are dozens of moose crossing the road? How about making the crosswalk changes when people complain about the potential of a bad accident – not after one occurs? How about planning and funding strategies to diversify communities out of dying industries before they actually die?
My new word. Imagination. There’s a dearth of it in Freddy these days.