BEEF The leaders of the world all belong to the same clique. Everything is only a big game for those people.
BOUQUET To the wonderful ladies at the New Balance store. I had excellent service with my purchase of new shoes but they didn’t quite fit after I got them home. The return process was easy and great care was taken to make sure I had the best possible fit with a replacement pair.
BEEF I hope the taxpayers have been reading all the permissive tax exemptions, this amounts to thousands of dollars that the taxpayers have to pick up. Some of them are pretty ridiculous. City council is getting out of hand with our hard-earned money and their huge-dollar projects. None of this will stop until we wake up.
BOUQUET To Bert the bartender at the Royal Canadian Legion Branch 10 for his quick service, always in a good mood and always remembers what you drink. Feels warm going in and knowing you’re taken care of. Great job.
BEEF To city council. They stacked the deck, choosing the alternative approval process to borrow $48.5 million. A majority of voters don’t know what the AAP is or how it works.
BOUQUET To Hullo fast ferry. Thank you for providing a travel alternative. My recent same-day round trip from Nanaimo to Vancouver to view an exhibition at the Vancouver Art Gallery was all the more enjoyable because of the smooth ride, walking distance to downtown in Vancouver and discounted price for being a first-time passenger.
BEEF To the people who think we can go through the winter with only one heat source. Very foolish. When the power goes out I hope they have lots of candles and a cord of wood.
BOUQUET To the folks I met at the Terminal who saw me celebrating my 19th alone who took me in and made my day a few weeks ago. You guys rock.
BEEF To right-hand-drive vehicles. How can I make eye contact when the driver is not sitting where he or she should be?
BOUQUET to mountain climbing Helen who helped me through a medical emergency near the Uplands and Turner intersection. Thank you for your patience and kindness while I waited for family to show up. Your one-step-at-a-time advice has played through my head lots in the last couple of weeks.
BEEF To the clinic for taking advantage of seniors by charging $220 for a driver’s medical when they already have most of the information on file.
BOUQUET To the Port Theatre for refunding me for two tickets to the Dean Brody concert after my husband contracted COVID-19. It wasn’t expected but much appreciated.
BEEF To the landlords who are telling their tenants they have to pay hundreds of dollars more per month otherwise they will sell the place and you’ll end up having to pay more anyways. I suggest you read up on this, as the law you are breaking isn’t in your favour.
BOUQUET Shout out to Michelle at Iris Optical. Your patients and co-workers adore you. Thank you for always being so kind, caring and compassionate.
BEEF With the cost of gas, food, rent, property taxes, dealing with homelessness, etc., why is the city writing off more than $2 million on permissive tax exemptions? I feel as a taxpayer we are getting pushed to the limit. Cut back on the big-cost projects, you are taxing us to death.
BOUQUET To the writer of the letter to the editor regarding out-of-control children.
BEEF To all the alarmists out there. I wish I could get paid to study what maybe, might or may occur in a hundred years. Might as well go get your fortune told or look into a crystal ball.
BOUQUET To the letter writer who wrote about noisy children, I could not agree with you more, but you missed the main reason these children behave like this. Children need attention from their parents and what I see all too often is parents on their phones instead of spending time with their kids. Spend quality time with your children; that’s what they want and need for healthy development.
BEEF To the beefer who suggested that the solution to rising crime and theft from stores was staff and cashiers provide service. You want already underpaid, overworked, short-staffed, daily receivers of verbal abuse, rudeness and general lack of respect for the jobs they do, to do even more for less money?
BOUQUET I recently spent the better part of a day at the emergency department of NRGH. I was very impressed by each staff member who dealt with me. I had several interventions that were performed in a very professional and compassionate manner. I am so very grateful that we have this kind of care in Nanaimo.
BEEF To the city planners who decided that doing construction on the majority of Nanaimo streets all at the same time was a great idea. You have made my job so much more difficult.
BOUQUET To the beef about safe supply. Like the tobacco companies were held responsible, so should the big pharmaceutical companies. Held responsible and pay for their wake of destruction. The doctors who are wooed by big pharma should be held accountable as well.
BEEF The alternative approval process is a negative, basically undemocratic process that relies on chronic voter apathy and low voter turnout to unfairly and greatly enhance a go-ahead result for council. Council should remember that they were elected to represent the wishes of the majority of taxpayers and not hide behind the AAP.
BOUQUET To the city for putting a traffic light at Bruce and Fifth. Now the driver with the white truck can go elsewhere to endanger people in crosswalks.
BEEF To the beefer who doesn’t like the garden in the new roundabout on Mary Ellen Drive. If you’re looking across the circular island, you’re driving unsafely. Speeds are slow and you should be watching for traffic approaching from your left. Obscured views across the circle are a safety design feature.
BOUQUET We would like to send a big bouquet of thanks to the person(s) who paid for two seniors’ lunch at the White Spot. What a wonderful surprise. You made our week.
BEEF To the ferry truck beefer. These trucks help fill the stores shelves and transport gas for your vehicle. You chose to live on an Island; if you don’t like it, you’re free to move. Bouquet to all the truck drivers, thank you for your dedication and perseverance, you deserve better respect, without you we would have chaos.
BOUQUET To the person calling out fathers for their boys’ toxic behaviour. Unfortunately, I think a lot of those fathers are on vacation.
BEEF Stop giving the environmental columnist coverage. Carbon dioxide has risen every year since measurements began in 1958 and temperatures have gone up, down and sideways. It’s not about carbon dioxide, it’s about taxing us to death and making it sound noble.
BOUQUET To city council for standing up to those who complain about the need to move away from climate-disrupting fossil fuels. We appreciate leadership at a time when mis- and dis-information is rampant.
BEEF To the sun and clouds for deciding to part ways just after the solar eclipse ended.
BOUQUET To the group of patients waiting in the ER. You renewed my faith in community as I watched you look out for your fellow patients in that room, helping clean up spills, picking up things that were dropped, fetching Kleenex, blankets and masks for each other, making sure people had a way home, sharing phone chargers, caring for each other with empathy and compassion instead of fear and judgment.
BEEF To all those asking for affordable housing. Everywhere I look there are vacancy signs but not ‘free’ signs. People need to remember their responsibilities in this life.
BOUQUET To the person or people who carve all the beautiful wooden owls and place them in the trees all around Buttertubs. They are always such a delight to see. Hoo hoo!
BEEF To the fast-food restaurant. Please stop assuming people are eligible for a senior’s discount on coffee. Some people may obviously be eligible but I’m only 52 years old. I’d rather not save 30 cents and feel young drinking it.
BOUQUET To my dad, trucker Larry. You go above and beyond every day to make me smile. Not only me, but your grandson and everyone you pass on your daily walks down Waddington to Save-On-Foods. Your smile and willingness to take carts in and give someone a special treat don’t go unnoticed. I’m so blessed to call you my dad; everyone could learn a lesson, from you.
BEEF To that tightwad lottery corporation for more than 40 years of selling me defective lottery tickets that never win anything.
BOUQUET To each driver and cyclist who follows the rules of the road, you make travelling in school zones and around town safe for all, even if it delays you a bit. How great would it be for more of us to follow this example.
BEEF To the Nanaimo sports team and management on B.C. Ferries. You showed disrespect for everyone in line by letting the whole team jump to the front of the food line. There is a specific behaviour when teams travel. Please teach it to them.
BOUQUET To Erin M., Deirdre, Ainsley and Torry, a wonderful, kind, helpful group of women at Service B.C. They have so much patience in dealing with everyone’s issues, always with a smile.
BEEF To the B.C. government for the idea of fining B.C. Ferries for lack of performance. That is right up there with giving a ticket to a person experiencing homelessness for ‘stealing’ a grocery cart. It isn’t going to change anything.
BOUQUET To the Rotary Club of Nanaimo and its tireless workers and volunteers for their work in the community, providing a variety of used books recently for sale to raise money for outreach work.
BEEF To the task force announced in the spring to gather information on prolific offenders in a number of areas in B.C., Nanaimo being one of them. We just had an update from the task force that they are still gathering data on who these people are. Government inaction, not in action.
BOUQUET Thank you to those I encounter on my early-morning walks. Your friendly nods, smiles, greetings, and chit-chats are most welcomed, and go a long way to warm my heart and brighten my day. A simple pleasure.
BEEF To the overpass flag wavers. What is your point? Why don’t you do something that might make a difference?
To submit a beef or a bouquet to the Nanaimo News Bulletin, e-mail editor@nanaimobulletin.com.
