BOUQUET I want to thank the young couple in the white truck for stopping at Uplands Drive as my car died and they pushed me to Oliver Road as it has less traffic. Thank you so much.
BEEF To the person who complained to us, the customers behind him, in a stage whisper about the customers ahead of him who he perceived were taking too long to place their order at the dessert shop. Leave us out of it, we’re happy to wait our turn patiently.
BOUQUET To Elizabeth and Leith. Thank you for your many years of great food and service at Husky House and Kelly’s Kitchen.
BEEF To the self-righteous, holier-than-though golf course member. Keep your hands to yourself. P.S., your privilege is showing.
BOUQUET To Louise T. and her helpers who made pillows for cancer survivors for the Nanaimo Women’s Support Group. Please call, Louise. I lost your phone number.
BEEF To the city and residents who claim that no one uses the bike lanes on Metral Drive. How can anyone use it if it isn’t finished? Get’er done already.
BOUQUET To Eden Gardens on its fifth anniversary. Thank you for the wonderful open house and your service to residents.
BEEF To the landscaping company that did the landscaping for the new apartment complexes in the north end. It’s been a few months and it looks like a weed field. Obviously no landscaping cloth or mulch. I hope you didn’t get paid for that.
BOUQUET To those who don’t start up their noisy lawn equipment until the afternoons. Some of us need our sleep in the mornings.
BEEF To the organizers of the community event. Every year I walk down to see the event and have lots of fun. Nothing about the event in the newspaper or on the computer.
BOUQUET Thanks to the most generous lady in Nanaimo, who paid my bill recently. My bank card didn’t work because of the Rogers national outage. The fine lady used her card, which did work. She did this gesture without being asked to.
BEEF To the lady who refused me a boat ride because I had a beer at home before I left. I was with friends who also had beer but I was singled out. It was our anniversary. I am of First Nations descent.
BOUQUET To the Nanaimo RCMP, who have patiently worked with us over an extended period as we respond to a person in the neighbourhood living with a serious mental health illness. The support and education they’ve provided us have been exceptional.
BEEF To the workers at Nanaimo hospital. My husband is teetering between life and death. I have been here helping to care for him every day. I pass by several times during the day and show my health passport. Upon returning with one hand full of food the other hand showing my health passport, I am confident the workers remember scanning my passport the day before and I hurry by. Immediately they cry out as though I have just committed a crime. Stop losing empathy and kindness for your fellow human.
BOUQUET To Nanaimo Lost and Found Pets and those in the Fillinger/Hammond Bay area who rallied behind complete strangers new to the area and were principal in locating our escaped rescue dog and bringing him home. We couldn’t possibly word the gratitude we feel but it had to be acknowledged.
BEEF To the media. Why not showcase the expensive and inefficient administrative side of the health-care system? It is at the root of the crisis we face today.
BOUQUET I have read a few beefs and bouquets about the fairy doors at Neck Point. I wasn’t really interested in the ‘pro doors or anti doors’ controversy. But, we recently took our four-year-old granddaughter to that park and it was a joy to see how excited she was to go from tree to tree looking at the different doors. So, now I will say we are firmly on the ‘pro door’ side of this issue. As for those who have complained about the doors, the fairy door pathway is just one of many in the park, why don’t you just not walk down that one pathway?
BEEF To the members of council who voted against affordable housing. This council does everything to punish the poor that they complain about, but refuse to do anything about it, other than fencing.
BOUQUET To the bus driver who picked me up from the Superstore. The stop was closed due to construction. I didn’t know this beforehand and was stuck. I was on the phone to hail a ride when you drove up and motioned to me to come over. My hero. Thanks for stopping even though you didn’t have to. Saved me and my groceries.
BEEF To Prime Minister Trudeau. We don’t like you on the West Coast. Surf is not up for you.
BOUQUET To all staff (doctors, nurses, reception, security, etc.) at the Medical Arts Centre Nanaimo. The queue to access the walk-in clinic was extraordinarily long, but the level of care and professionalism was outstanding once in the door. We could use a couple more centres like yours to serve the area.
BEEF To the reckless young woman on Northwest Bay Road, driving a Ford Escape. I watched you in front of me as you carelessly kept flicking your cigarette ashes out your window. I was so angry, you would have had a big problem on your hands if I would have gotten out of my vehicle while we were stopped by the single-lane traffic. Smarten up.
BOUQUET To the customer shopping at Country Grocer Bowen Road for your random act of kindness by paying $150 for a couple’s groceries. Did not go unnoticed. Another example of the many great customers who support local businesses and the community they live in.
BEEF To the beefers about the Metral Drive improvements. Go for a walk.
BOUQUET To all the staff at Penny’s Palapa. Your service is excellent on every single visit. Smiling faces, very professional and pleasant, even on a super busy night. Thanks for making such a great experience – with fantastic food and margaritas – even better. I know your jobs are not easy.
BOUQUET To my sister friend Karen O. Without your time, energy, creativity and love, our day wouldn’t have been possible. Thank your for loving us like you do. Love you.
BEEF To people who feed the geese at the beach at Long Lake. Cheesy Poofs are not good for geese and they get habituated. Then the children have to play in their poop.
BOUQUET To the two sisters working at the downtown Subway. So nice to see two hard-working humans dealing with the general public (that can sometimes be trying, especially downtown) in such a positive, cheerful manner. Your kindness and patience did not go unnoticed. Keep up the good work.
BEEF To my close neighbours. I heard you get a puppy and play with it a lot during the beginning of the COVID pandemic. Then it seemed you eventually started going out more. Your puppy had such separation anxiety it was yelping for hours. That happened so many days, weeks, now years it sounds upset and it howls out for hours. Please give the dog to someone who will spend time with it.
BOUQUET To all the seniors and disabled renters who have spent their lifetimes investing in Nanaimo with taxes and hard work. Now when they are most vulnerable, a huge business has taken over multiple seniors buildings and are bullying them.
BEEF Two ships make for better wait times on Gabriola, unless of course, one of them isn’t running, which happened this week. These vessels carry fewer vehicles, so waiting can actually be worse than before. It was just a matter of time.
BOUQUET To the lady at 7-Eleven University Village who paid it forward to the person in front of me with a $5 bill, who then split the bill with me. The train of kindness early in the morning was amazing to see. I enjoyed my breakfast corn dog immensely.
BEEF To the City of Nanaimo. Turning onto Metral Drive from Mostar is an absolutely nightmare. Not only do you have to watch for pedestrians at the crosswalk that is too close to the intersection, but also vehicles coming from different lanes and directions. I’ve almost been rear-ended several times. It’s only a matter of time until someone is badly injured because of road rage.
BOUQUET To Qamar at the Shoppers Drug Mart on Mary Ellen Drive. He has perfected the art of giving totally painless injections. I saw him a few months ago and was surprised that I didn’t know he had even given me my injection until he told me I could roll down my sleeve. I saw him again yesterday for a different injection, and sure enough, absolutely painless. I don’t know what he does differently compared to everyone else, but he is great.
BEEF To north Nanaimo dog owners who allow their dogs to bark day and evening. Neighbours find it difficult to sit outside and listen. Please control your dog’s barking. We have a dog and make sure it does not disturb our neighbours. One bark and it’s brought inside and told ‘no barking.’ It works.
BOUQUET To the Nanaimo RCMP motorcycle officer who stood for hours in our neighbourhood at a stop sign – which most folks drive through – and gave out verbal warnings. Thank you for bringing attention to road safety in our neighbourhood.
BEEF To the City of Nanaimo who made a ridiculous decision to put a two-way bike lane to nowhere on Boxwood Road. Couldn’t our tax dollars be spent in a better fashion by fixing up Jingle Pot Road where people actually ride their bikes? Who is making these decisions?
BOUQUET To Trish at Save-On-Foods for continuing after several years to organize the fundraiser for B.C. Children’s Hospital. Great idea that she had and organized much of it on her own time. It’s wonderful that the management at the store support this excellent staff-led initiative.
BEEF I can’t stand when people get holiday names mixed up. Do some research about what you’re actually beefing about.
BOUQUET To all the staff of Nanaimo Hospice, who provided invaluable, kind and compassionate support to our family when we lost our father last year. You are truly a treasure to the community and deserve tremendous recognition.
BEEF Without right-turn lanes around Enterprise Way and Metral Drive, the traffic becomes congested and backs up onto the highway. I thought safety, traffic flow and access were relevant to city planning.
BOUQUET To the city for the Metral upgrade. This community include seniors, people with disabilities, families and cyclists, and of course drivers, and new roads like Metral finally represent us all. Complaining that you can’t drive as quickly as you’d like is short-sighted.
BEEF The median between the ferry turn-off and Long Lake is an unsightly mess that all the tourists and newcomers see when coming here. Not at all as nice as the new Bowen Road median that most of the newcomers never see. You can’t tell me city managers or city councillors never notice this.
BOUQUET Thank you to Football Nanaimo and all the volunteers and coaches who make this possible for our kids. This is one of the best groups I have been a part of and words cannot describe the difference it makes teaching kids respect, teamwork, hard work and, win or lose, how to celebrate themselves.
BEEF To the beefer who is beefing about my burning a little extra fuel for small leisurely drives. As honourable as your intentions are, you’re likely contributing more to climate change with your leisurely diet of beef and animal products than my little drives ever could. If you aren’t aware, please educate yourself, because your energy would be best spent focused on the things that actually make a difference.
BOUQUET To Colonial Countertops and especially to Jill. Your friendly disposition and array of knowledge helped turn my mother’s disastrous flood into a beautiful renovation. We appreciated your positive outlook and she loves her new kitchen.
To submit a beef or a bouquet to the Nanaimo News Bulletin, e-mail editor@nanaimobulletin.com.
