BOUQUET To Country Grocer on Bowen Road for donating the most amazing cake to the Lantzville Royal Canadian Legion Branch 257’s Thanksgiving dinner and to Save-On-Foods at Woodgrove Centre for giving us the best deal ever on the turkeys. Thank you so much.
BEEF To those who love to complain about the homeless and panhandlers in town but do nothing to educate themselves and help the problem of poverty. We all can’t be as privileged as you are.
BOUQUET A friend of mine went to Egypt to look at the pyramids, ancient relics and most of all, mummies. Before she went I told her, ‘why not save your money and stay home? Just look around you and in your mirror, that’s what I do and it works for me.’
BEEF To every eligible voter who chose not to vote in the Nanaimo election. Peace to all those who earned us the right to vote.
BOUQUET Thanks to the woman from Lantzville who drove me home when she heard that I would be waiting for an hour and a half for the bus.
BEEF To the woman in the SUV who blew through the stop sign coming out of McDonald’s onto Boxwood. You obviously think you’re super special.
BOUQUET To the very kind person who stood beside me in Thrifty’s Longwood store when to my horror and embarrassment the machine declined my cards. A kind woman asked if she could try it with hers and she flatly refused repayment and said not to worry.
BEEF To B.C. Ferries executives. So you have now had months to ‘fix’ the problem yet still there are delays, cancellations and now detours for mechanical problems. Who’s getting fired next?
BOUQUET To the City of Nanaimo for installing a raised crosswalk at Albion Street and Bruce Avenue street with flashing lights. A beef for putting in flashing lights and crosswalk at Bruce and Sixth Street without raising it.
BEEF To the politicians for the ‘thoughts, hearts and prayers’ tweets. Can you get any less sincere or is it just second nature now?
BOUQUET To the local businesses that made our annual Not Back to School Picnic a huge success – too many to list here, but you are all amazing, and so appreciated by the homeschool community in Nanaimo.
BEEF For those who don’t think Metral is a bad design, the next time you drive along it look at the driveways – basically every one has rubber marks where they have been driven over because it is so narrow and the Mostar end look at the island; there are chunks broke out of the concrete from people hitting it.
BOUQUET To the gentleman who found my credit card near Sun Life at Nanaimo North Town Centre and turned it in to the administrative office. I am grateful that there are kind people in our world. Many thank yous.
BEEF To B.C. Ferries. All these cancellations and they have the gall to raise their fees.
BOUQUET To Tannis and Kathleen at Costco who persevered in finding MCT oil for me, and your willingness to go above and beyond.
BEEF To the outgoing city council. When redoing Metral for bike lanes, where are the bus stops? It’s not safe for the buses to just stop in the driving lanes and hold up traffic. You could have tucked them into the new bike lanes. No thought to this very expensive project.
BOUQUET To the two City of Nanaimo employees Mike and Michael who came out in the evening to check out our concerns of water or sewer leak. They were efficient and professional. They quickly put our minds at ease. Thanks guys, very much appreciated.
BEEF It’s disappointing the B.C. NDP disqualified one of its two leadership candidates. Hopefully all that candidates supporters will have their NDP memberships refunded.
BOUQUET To Telus internet support workers who were so pleasant and determined to help me with my computer connectivity problem. They were patient and made it well worthwhile to wait while different tactics were attempted. Even made an appointment for a call-out tech to come, but I was overjoyed to be able to cancel when everything became A-OK.
BEEF To the musician who made hate-filled comments about a certain group of Canadians at his recent local show. Beef also to those in the crowd who cheered him on. If the same was said publicly about any other group, it would have been labelled hate speech and he would be called out, but this was fine?
BOUQUET Hat’s off to Tim Hortons in Parksville for still wearing masks and cleaning the tables after each customer. Keep it up.
BEEF I agree with all of the other beefers regarding the ridiculous planning of Metral Drive. Add to the list Front Street. Also, Jingle Pot Road where drivers are confronted with a cement barrier cutting off the second lane. And take a drive down Boxwood Road where the city has put cement barriers to cut off a lane. This is an industrial area with huge semi trucks trying to turn into the commercial businesses along there.
BOUQUET To the couple walking their sweet dog who stopped to assist me after a hit-and-run collision at the intersection of Campbell and Prideaux streets. Your care, concern and help were greatly appreciated and proof that many good folks still do exist in this world.
BEEF To all the residents who complain about the city council and their legacy projects, yet are too lazy to go and vote them out. We only get what others vote for, and remember, you cannot complain if you didn’t vote.
BOUQUET To the veterinarian who advocated for cats to be kept indoors. She explained that’s it’s for the health, safety and longevity of your cat and offers alternative ways to keep your cat happy.
BEEF City council likes to claim it is different from previous councils but it continues to pander to developers over the needs and well-being of community residents.
BOUQUET To the new Metral Drive. I was initially in the ‘I hate this’ camp after my first drive, but after having to use it regularly for a month, I’ve changed my mind. Plenty of room for vehicles, even large ones. The only thing I don’t like is the access to Somerset Drive looks like a driveway and I keep missing it.
BEEF In regards to bike lanes ruining the streets, Metral Drive and Front Street. Try living or running a business on these streets. I live on Front Street, all of us have to contend with vehicles that use the mound in front of the Court House to burn rubber, squeal their tires, roar their motors and speed. Also, their music blaring with no regards or respect to the businesses or people who live on these streets.
BOUQUET Get well soon Pamela. Your friends all miss you – and the casino, ha ha.
BEEF To all the people who treat their cats as disposable and replaceable. They let their cats roam free and even move and abandon them. Daily there are dozens of Facebook posts reporting lost or run-over cats and it breaks my heart. There is no need. Get educated.
BOUQUET To Mme. Sullivan, our librarian. She fills us in with interesting facts and always has a good book on hand.
BEEF To the 75 per cent of the Nanaimo electorate who never showed up to vote. Never forget that those who show up win. So you think things were bad the last four years? Just wait what they have in store for you the next four years.
BOUQUET To a small group of early-morning walkers in Cedar who on curbside collection day stop at my home and put out my containers for collection. Thank you so much.
BEEF To all the businesses that added a charge card fee without reducing prices. Prices that already had the charge card overhead factored in.
BOUQUET To the lady in the blue jacket who paid for our meal at Driftwood Restaurant. The six of us were celebrating a birthday and were shocked when the waitress told us you had paid our bill. Thank you for your kindness.
BEEF To the government. They are giving nurses public, immediate support from being punched, kicked, spat on and abused by violent offenders, but what about the rest of us? Oh, that’s right they have a union.
BOUQUET A special thank you for a thoughtful, generous couple who approached me, an old-age pensioner, with a gift card to pay for my groceries. It has restored my faith in the human race. No everyone is bad in this present greedy world.
BEEF To the big box store for freezing prices on one of their house brands. One item caught my eye as I buy it quite regularly and am always looking for the best price I can find. The regular price was $4.99, on sale from time to time for $3.99 or $4.58. The new price when I was in after the CEO’s great announcement of corporate benevolence is $5.99.
To submit a beef or a bouquet to the Nanaimo News Bulletin, e-mail editor@nanaimobulletin.com.
