BOUQUET To the staff at the NRGH emergency room. I’ve been there twice in the last couple of weeks (sprained my knee and my kid broke a bone), and the staff was wonderful. Although it was a disruption to my day both times and the hospital was busy, the staff were welcoming, helpful, caring, and clearly working as hard as possible to help people. The care was top-notch and much appreciated.
BEEF To the staff at the thrift store who kept talking about going off for a powwow. I’m pretty sure you weren’t going to a powwow. This is culturally insensitive. Please educate yourselves to support decolonization.
BOUQUET To the staff member at Save-On-Foods at Woodgrove Centre. I was unaware that one of my hearing aids had dropped on the floor. He noticed it, picked it up, and tapped my shoulder. Many thanks for saving me the cost of replacing it.
BEEF To the beefer about money-pit bicycle lanes. These were built for bicycles not cars. Also, the term ‘woke’ has nothing to do with what you’re talking about. And by the way, share the roads.
BOUQUET To our little goat Moosey. You are extra super duper cute and friendly. Lucky for you, extra super duper cute feelings trump flavour, so you’re in the clear.
BEEF To mandatory diversity, equity and inclusion programs. I prefer to hang on to all my subconscious biases. That’s what makes me an individual human being with the ability to think for myself instead of turning into a mindless clone blindly following the herd like lemmings going over the cliff and into the abyss.
BOUQUET I was walking downtown by the seawall and spotted an umbrella that was out on the sand. I decided to go get it, to put it in the garbage can. I got stuck and the sand was like a vacuum; I couldn’t pull my foot out. I ended up pulling my foot right out of my shoe and lost my balance. I tried to get my shoe out of the mud, and fell again, pulling my other foot out of my shoe. I kept falling, and cut my hands on the oysters and couldn’t use them for leverage to stand up. Cary and Beverly came to my rescue and another woman called 911, and firefighters helped me climb up the rocks. Cary and Beverly walked me home. Then my friend Patti helped me clean my wounds. I feel so blessed to have all these guardian angels.
BEEF To the venue for giving a sexual predator a platform to perform his stand-up ‘comedy.’
BOUQUET To Danna for organizing a fun spring scavenger hunt that encouraged people to get out and enjoy our beautiful neighbourhood.
BEEF To yet another anti-cyclist beefer, this time a total extremist with a dangerous (to the cycling community here in Nanaimo) attitude. There is a large anti-bike, anti-bike lane group in this city so us fellow cyclists need to stand up for our rights to safe cycling and refuse to take this. As a retired taxpayer still paying plenty, I have a perfect right to ride my electric bike on the roads in this city because I contribute to the building of this infrastructure.
BOUQUET To Generations Church and those who attended the first Nanaimo Rock Choir concert, orchestrated by Nick L. It was at capacity, and we, the choir, could feel the electricity, and connection of fun with the audience for the duration of the performance. But the epitome of excellence was the donations at the door for Nanaimo Foodshare. Thank you to Nick, Generations Church, and Nanaimo supporters.
BEEF To all the people who are obsessed with power washing their driveways. Six hours of noise torture for the neighbours, and what a ridiculous waste of precious fresh water. So unnecessary.
BOUQUET To Marci at the Nanaimo Heart Function Clinic. She is knowledgeable and has excellent communication skills in explaining a medical condition. She has made our life less stressful and deserves our thanks.
BEEF To the fair. Two rides cost more tickets than were stated on the entry signs. It takes less than a minute to tape up a correction. I saw kids with barely a dollar to their name and only a ticket short.
BOUQUET To Greg and staff at Craftsman Collision for the exceptional service. You are awesome.
BEEF To the driver of the big noisy truck behind the mall. We are sorry you didn’t stick around after calling my husband some rather colourful names for driving on the wrong side of the road (which he wasn’t). Perhaps you didn’t see the big white letters on your lane that read stop? We would have kindly pointed them out to you and saved you the embarrassment of your outrageous behaviour.
BOUQUET Holy cow, just ate a Chuck Norris burger. Herd good things so I hoofed it on over to Meat Craft Island Butchery. Actually steered my iron horse, rustled me some cow patties and skedaddled. Udderly delicious, cud’ve eaten more. This cowgirl will be heading back soon.
BEEF To the city for allowing yet another warming shelter to put another neighbourhood at risk for crime and disorder. It’s warm now, so time to shut it down.
BOUQUET To the considerate person who found my blue cloth bag during the first day of the Rotary Used Book Sale and tucked it into one of the railings at Nanaimo North Town Centre. I retraced my steps and found it after I bought an armful of books. What a relief to see it. Thank you.
BEEF To the beefer beefing about the poor sick abused alone people unable to have a job. Who are you, other than self-righteous, obviously rich with family. Not everyone is you.
BOUQUET To Nanaimo Smiles dental care and the staff who work there. You have made my first three appointments a wonderful experience and I no longer go to the dentist with nearly as much anxiety as I used to. My eight-year-old daughter also had a great experience and she is no longer as nervous as she used to be about going to the dentist either. Thank you.
BEEF It’s nice to know that our ferry to Nanaimo from Horseshoe Bay was delayed for an hour due to the need to swap boats in Langdale. Or perhaps due to an earlier loading delay. Or perhaps because of a mechanical issue. All three were communicated at different times. Is there a travellers’ bill of rights legislation for ferries as there is for airlines? There should be.
BOUQUET To the food bank for all the food you supply to our city daily. To the person who slammed the non-profit for bad food, we are all checked by VIHA and food from the food bank is made the same day or the next day after it’s given to the non-profit. Why are you still experiencing homelessness after 10 years?
BEEF To the people on the overpass displaying the flag upside-down. They should not be allowed to be distracting people to cause accidents as I have witnessed. They cannot appreciate the peace and freedom we enjoy in this country.
Bouquet of the Week: Thank you to Cary and Beverly who rescued me when I got stuck in quicksand… https://t.co/DOKpQna0Yq#Nanaimo #quicksand pic.twitter.com/vpmTSyNLZ6
— Beefs & Bouquets (@BeefsBouquets) May 1, 2024
BOUQUET To the city for the design of Metral Drive. I’ve lived in the area for 30 years and it was long overdue. Definitely makes it safe for walking and cycling.
BEEF To the woman at the outdoor show who entered a camper with a handful of drink, phone, and event pass. Sudden crash of noise and you came out grasping all those things leaving a puddle of liquid behind for other people to step in. Next time try respecting other people’s property.
BOUQUET To the brave soul running around with the Russian flags. There are always at least two sides to every issue. We benefit from hearing diverse viewpoints and avoiding group think. The media only gives us one side, let’s hear the others.
BEEF To the 25 Departure Bay Ferry Shuttle, which sped by in the left lane, not even intending to pick up passengers waiting at the Rutherford bus stop. If it weren’t for the cab in the area at the time, I would have missed my international flight. That’ll teach me to trust the Nanaimo transit system.
BOUQUET To readers who step up and condemn the outrageous behaviour of drivers of noisy vehicles in Nanaimo. If the police and city authorities listened to you instead of ignoring this problem, Nanaimo would be a much safer and more pleasant place to live. Keep up the complaints.
BEEF Another budget and again, something for everyone except seniors.
BOUQUET To Siri on my iPhone for informing me not to go near town with my bicycle. It will get stolen. You saved me and my ride. But you forgot to mention the odd man waving the stick.
BEEF What’s with Nanaimo? Prove that you’ve got decent people there. There is an ongoing struggle for an Indigenous lady and her hard-working man. She has a career and is a stand-up citizen. It is beyond ridiculous she can’t find a place to live in peace. I guess she’ll be camping. Unimpressed and saddened the doors get/stay closed in this day and age.
BOUQUET To the motorcyclist who was wearing a Kermit the frog helmet. Made me smile for the whole day after seeing you.
BEEF To the one complaining about the non-profit. It takes a very special sort of person to complain about being shown or given charity. You also mention being homeless for a decade as though it were a badge of honour. It’s not.
BOUQUET To the lady who bought her pup a hotdog with no bun. It made my day to see you treat your dog, and he seemed to be enjoying it.
BEEF To people who repeatedly leave their garbage and compost out despite bears getting into it. Another beef to conservation officers who set up bear traps rather than fine these repeat offenders who obviously don’t care that a garbage bear is a dead bear.
BOUQUET To the movie industry for being in our town during April and May. Concerns about road closures when there is so much road work going on.
BEEF What is the purpose of the concrete curbed ditch coming halfway out onto Shenton Road? It’s no wonder we have traffic issues in the city. It’s beyond me who could come up with such an idea and also who would sign off on such a ridiculous plan.
BOUQUET To the sweet mom-and-son duo who helped me load a patio set into my little car in the Walmart parking lot. They even volunteered to drive it to my house in their car if it didn’t fit in mine. We got it in. Such kindness.
BEEF To people who use soap to clean a cast iron pan.
BOUQUET Thank you to the wonderful ladies at LifeLabs south for being able to find my hide-and-seek veins.
BEEF To the operators of excessively noisy vehicles on the streets of Nanaimo. And to the police who allow them to do this with impunity. This is just another example of white male privilege that must be stamped out completely and as soon as possible. The disinterest by the police and city authorities is a disgrace and a slap in the face to law-abiding citizens and taxpayers. Get these people off our streets now.
BOUQUET To the lovely group at White Rabbit Coffee that got up when they heard I needed a seat. Second bouquet to the staff for being so supportive of my writing and book Intrabit: One World.
BEEF To all of those bemoaning the Metral Drive re-design, slow down and smell my bouquet. It is a pleasure to walk, many people, including the school children, ride their bikes in the designated lane and there is more than ample room for vehicles to traverse at a safe speed and distance. Well done city.
To submit a beef or a bouquet to the Nanaimo News Bulletin, e-mail editor@nanaimobulletin.com.