I'd like a moment here to respond to a recent comment.
In response to the posting of Pot, Kettle - Kettle, Pot. One anonymous reader had this to say: " You complain endlessly and uselessly and do nothing to ease what you see as negative in Roanoke.
Until you do something other than sit and mumble half-cocked opinions online, shut the hell up."
This is not the first time I have encountered such a comment, but normally I just choose to ignore them.
Obviously this person is an occasional reader of the blog, and not any time when I publish a piece on the Mill Mountain Zoo, events in Roanoke (ie. Dickens of a Christmas), or rail against the City Council for a better quality of life, representation.
And perhaps this person is not of the "speak up, act up, rise up" kind - but I am. When I bitch and moan about something - there is a point to it. I am terribly sorry if it does not come across clearly all the time - there are times when the passion overtakes the reason and I myself have quashed certain posts.
But this "endless and useless complaining" is not without end, and it is certainly not without use.
Many of the locally born and raised people I know have adopted an attitude of a hostage of the City of Roanoke. Roanoke will never be as good as this place, nor as important as that place. Roanoke will never change, and Roanoke is dying. The county is better than the city. City schools suck. The taxes are too high. You can't get a decent paycheck in Roanoke. NW/SE/SW/Williamson Rd: is the ghetto.
If that attitude is one of progress and change, then call me delusional - because I have never seen this model work for the good of anything.
The squeaky wheel gets the grease, right? The squeaky wheel is drowned out by the whining brakes around here. Why bother trying if things aren't going to go your way anyway?
I don't know if this is a regional thing, a local thing, or a street by street kinda thing - but the attitude is prevalent. And it is damaging the city.
The city council does what it wants, when it wants because we - the people allow it. We gripe, we moan, we whine - but we stop short of actually doing anything about it.
This must change, this needs to change. And as they say, let change begin with me.
So in that spirit, from now on - whenever I have a negative post about something to do with the City - I will follow it up with a cute photo of a puppy dog to soothe and calm, and prevent anyone from thinking or doing anything that might change things.
Goodnight
In response to the posting of Pot, Kettle - Kettle, Pot. One anonymous reader had this to say: " You complain endlessly and uselessly and do nothing to ease what you see as negative in Roanoke.
Until you do something other than sit and mumble half-cocked opinions online, shut the hell up."
This is not the first time I have encountered such a comment, but normally I just choose to ignore them.
Obviously this person is an occasional reader of the blog, and not any time when I publish a piece on the Mill Mountain Zoo, events in Roanoke (ie. Dickens of a Christmas), or rail against the City Council for a better quality of life, representation.
And perhaps this person is not of the "speak up, act up, rise up" kind - but I am. When I bitch and moan about something - there is a point to it. I am terribly sorry if it does not come across clearly all the time - there are times when the passion overtakes the reason and I myself have quashed certain posts.
But this "endless and useless complaining" is not without end, and it is certainly not without use.
Many of the locally born and raised people I know have adopted an attitude of a hostage of the City of Roanoke. Roanoke will never be as good as this place, nor as important as that place. Roanoke will never change, and Roanoke is dying. The county is better than the city. City schools suck. The taxes are too high. You can't get a decent paycheck in Roanoke. NW/SE/SW/Williamson Rd: is the ghetto.
If that attitude is one of progress and change, then call me delusional - because I have never seen this model work for the good of anything.
The squeaky wheel gets the grease, right? The squeaky wheel is drowned out by the whining brakes around here. Why bother trying if things aren't going to go your way anyway?
I don't know if this is a regional thing, a local thing, or a street by street kinda thing - but the attitude is prevalent. And it is damaging the city.
The city council does what it wants, when it wants because we - the people allow it. We gripe, we moan, we whine - but we stop short of actually doing anything about it.
This must change, this needs to change. And as they say, let change begin with me.
So in that spirit, from now on - whenever I have a negative post about something to do with the City - I will follow it up with a cute photo of a puppy dog to soothe and calm, and prevent anyone from thinking or doing anything that might change things.
Goodnight
2 comments:
I don't think the apathy is a "Roanoke" problem, I think it's a nationwide thing. Less than half the population votes and most people, it seems, care only about their family (if they're lucky) and to hell with everyone else. And if they do wake up and look around, they see something they like better and resort to the "victimhood" you're describing. Ultimately you end up with the community you deserve, I think, if you're not involved in one way or another. I mean, at least vote!
All too often I attend council meetings and planning meetings in a neighboring county and no one is there but the media. It disappoints me every time but I have come to expect it.
voting around here is like wetting your self up in a dark suit, you get a warm feeling but nobody else knows,or cares. The cold hard truth
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