BOUQUET To Andre, who helped my partner and I jump start our vehicle in the Bulk Barn parking lot. Your kindness is very much appreciated.
BEEF To wood stove beefers. Go live in a condo.
BOUQUET to those who came up with the idea of battery-operated candles. We get to have warm ambience in our condo without the chance of burning down our building should the cat (or a possible earthquake) knock over a candle.
BEEF B.C. Ferries is on a mission. New ferries and terminal upgrades for the Gulf Islands while the main routes are snarled and archaic. I wonder who lives on these magical islands?
BOUQUET To the Cranberry Fire Hall, concerned citizens, doctors and paramedics who attended my car accident. Thank you for your support, professionalism, skill and knowledge that helped me to safely get to the hospital to receive the care and attention I needed.
BEEF To those who have friends who have always been good to them, always been the one to make plans, always been there no matter what and then you seem to just forget about them. You know they could use a friend, but you are busy maybe? You don’t realize that your former friend now has nobody whatsoever and is afraid to reach out to you, wondering what they possibly could have done wrong? You have no idea how truly alone they are.
BOUQUET Wandered into Quality Foods in Harewood a week ago to look for a beautiful bouquet of flowers to take to my aunt on Hornby Island who had recently lost her husband. Sandra happened to be there that day and did not disappoint. Thanks so much.
BEEF To the store and how un-Canadian it seems, from staffing to display, it felt like a label warehouse in Seattle. Where are the beautiful First Nations clothing lines or local companies?
BOUQUET Thank you to London Drugs for organizing and the community of Nanaimo for generously donating to the Stocking Stuffers for Seniors program this past holiday season. You made a lot of seniors feel very happy and special. A special shout out to Doug at the Nanaimo North Town Centre London Drugs – you were a pleasure to deal with for this program.
BEEF To the Beefs of the Year. Where is the funny beef? All I hear is a lot of complaining about bad restaurants and service. Power cords anyone? That got multiple bouquets for several weeks. Not giving up on you though, going to keep trying. Happy new year.
BOUQUET My new year’s resolution may have been to try to send as many bouquets as I do beefs which is very difficult as there is so much wrong. So bouquet to that kind person who made many free mittens with fingertip access for Kiwanis retirement residents and programs. My wife really appreciated her mittens. Thank you.
BEEF To all the deflated snowmen and Santas lying around Nanaimo front yards. Don’t you know you’ll soon end up in the landfill, or worse, the ocean?
BOUQUET To the Chase River Country Grocer. I needed to send a sympathy bouquet right after Christmas. Most florists were closed and almost all of them only had Christmas inventory. Chase River Country Grocer put together the most beautiful bouquet that was most appropriate for the situation.
BEEF To the mall that is not bothering to remove all the litter on its property by the bus exchange. Obviously you have no pride for your community, shameful, and those throwing it, please do better this year, stop.
BOUQUET Big thanks to our community who were generous with tips and treats this Christmas. Your newspaper boys were overjoyed.
BEEF To the grocery stores that continue to sell items two for one. Why don’t these retailers listen to us that we don’t want two of something? Really is no bargain in the first place, second is item usually goes bad before consumed. Mark the price to half if you want to give a deal.
BOUQUET To the citizens of Nanaimo, for a much refreshing Beefs & Bouquets edition – not one beef in the whole segment. Bravo! Let’s keep it going by enjoying 2024 and focus on the positives it beholds. Let’s not give way to the negative.
BEEF Rats are running rampant in Nanaimo. The No. 1 reason is open ditches. I see the city make minor attempts to fill in ditches around town, which is too little too late. These open ditches are ‘highways’ for rats to spread disease, to destroy property, both public and private. Cats kill rats. Mine do. Stop trying to keep our little rat-catching friends inside.
BOUQUET To Marcia. Thank you for not only being ‘Santa Claus’ in the month of December but rather making it a year-long endeavour. You brought joy and surprise to many customers with your generous Country Grocer gift cards. You are an amazing person, and I am very grateful to have gotten to know you. Happy 2024 to you and your family.
BEEF Shame on the neighbourhood association administrator who uses public money to advance her agenda. And shame on the city for giving out public money to people who have zero accountability to the public. Taxes are going up and people wonder why. Good grief.
BOUQUET To the woman who paid for another customer’s groceries at Country Grocer. The bill came to $160. The look of surprise on this person’s face said everything. She was truly surprised and shocked to be the recipient of this generous gift. Thank you to whoever you are.
BEEF As a born and raised Nanaimoite, I am saddened to see what’s happening to our beautiful city. Seniors who worked hard their whole lives are facing homelessness because of low income, trees are disappearing to make room for more houses jammed together displacing the wildlife, the homelessness downtown is appalling, and the cost of living here is outrageous. What’s wrong with this picture?
BOUQUET Thank you to a very kind-hearted gentlemen who helped out my very elderly father in a north-end grocery store. His debit card was not working and he was fumbling, trying to get cash from his wallet to pay for his groceries. You paid for his order ($50-plus) without hesitation. Thank you so much. You are a very good person.
BEEF To the RCMP. After six break-ins in four years, numerous threats with knives, terrifying interactions on the street for my grandchildren and myself and not one single follow-up visit or call, the RCMP still have time to give my daughter a ticket for handing her boyfriend her cellphone in the car. The officer was rude to my very respectful and responsible daughter.
BOUQUET To the gentleman who gave my elderly mother a dozen red roses at Port Place. She was waiting for me while shopping and you made her entire year. We appreciate your kindness.
BEEF To online scammers, don’t you have anything better to do with your time? We see you and you have been reported. No means no.
BOUQUET To the staff and patrons of Walmart for turning in my debit card last month. You saved me a very complicated morning. Many thanks.
BEEF To the driver who hit my cat and killed it on quiet, little Strickland Street. Obviously you were going way too fast and then you did not even bother to stop, to tell us what happened. Our neighbours found her but by then it was too late. Our hearts are broken.
BOUQUET Many thanks to the woman who saw my car trunk door open when driving by my house after several times and stopped to let me know in case it wasn’t intentional. It wasn’t.
BEEF I have only had about three satisfactory grocery online orders with a local store. I was charged for sometimes 30 or more missing items. At Christmas I was missing one-quarter of my order. Have to talk to people repeatedly to maybe get a refund to my card. No veggies, no cranberry sauce, no Christmas breakfast, no gravy. I’m a senior and I take objection to this food theft. Nowhere to grow a garden either.
BOUQUET To the RDN Transit supervisor who attended to a woman with no shoes late at night. He called his wife to help. Bouquet to his wife who took off her shoes and gave them to the woman in need. Their kindness and compassion was heartfelt.
BEEF To city hall regarding the AAP. In pushing AAP on the peasantry, the local government has again failed the ART of governance – accountable, responsible, transparent. None of these boxes ever seemed to get checked.
BOUQUET To Simply Flowers for the incredibly beautiful Christmas bouquet sent from my granddaughter in L.A. The very best gift and surprise ever.
BEEF To the city for an eight-per cent property tax increase, do not forget this is a compounded increase over the years of increases brought by this tax-addicted, spendaholic, unaccountable, unresponsible and not transparent administration.
BOUQUET To Lantzville Pub staff for graciously changing our table because the customers who got seated beside us suffocated us with perfume. Beef to people who use scented products which cause breathing problems and severe headaches for many people around them.
BEEF To our medical system. No doctors so people tie up walk-in clinics or emergency. Then the people who really need emergency have to wait 14 hours. So sad. Beef to Nanaimo for not having more walk-in clinics/urgent care clinics. Beef to the government for not helping doctors to come to the Island.
BOUQUET To the staff at Central Drugs Brickyard for their patience, efficiency and genuine kindness. Their customer service truly is gifted and appreciated.
BEEF To the car dealership which after a diagnostic, quoted me $985 for a basic part that my four-year old car would require. After some research online I was able to solve the problem on my own by changing a fuse. You should be embarrassed by your lack of care and disregard for your customers. Everywhere I go people have nothing but negative things to say about your business, now I will be doing the same.
BOUQUET To the manager at the Quality Foods at Northridge Village. Great customer service and always with a smile.
BEEF To whoever decided to vandalize my car with a Poilievre sticker that I did not ask for. You just guaranteed there is no way I would ever vote Conservative. If this is the way Conservative followers act, then I want no part of it.
BOUQUET To city hall for the saving of Five Acre Farm for now. I can only wonder what other nefarious scheme they have up their sleeve for this in the future. How about building a working, food-producing, teaching oasis? I could see my tax dollars going to something like this if it did not get corrupted.
BEEF To the people who ate their goat Pepper. You need to look up the definition of ‘respect,’ as that word and ‘slaughter’ are not complementary terms. If you are going to eat an animal, don’t pretend to care about its feelings. If you truly respected the animal, you wouldn’t be eating its body parts.
To submit a beef or a bouquet to the Nanaimo News Bulletin, e-mail editor@nanaimobulletin.com.