Viewpoints
Bus Stop Benches Removed In
Front of Library
By Carol Baines
December 17, 2007
Monday AM
I've been told that the benches that were removed at the bus
stop in front of the public library because of partying going
on there, i.e. people smoking marijuana, drinking alcohol, sleeping
on the benches overnight, etc.
I've never seen anyone smoking marijuana there; however, I did
notice one homeless man rolling cigarettes with inexpensive tobacco,
the only thing he could afford. I never saw anyone sitting there
partying and drinking. If it happened on a couple of occasions,
is that any reason to remove the benches? Some of the homeless
people won't last through the winter. I don't think allowing
one or two of them to sit on the bench hurts anything, especially
in the wintertime when the cold rains start. I wonder if the
benches will be replaced when the tourists come back so they
can sit down and wait for a bus.
Anytime I wanted to sit and wait for the bus, everyone was polite
and made room for me.
If there really was a problem there, why wasn't a "No Loitering"
sign placed there warning of a fine for consuming alcohol? I've
also noticed a sign at the mall bus stop with a list of a dozen
or so instructions on how to behave while riding the city bus,
as though the passengers are school children to be lectured on
proper behavior. It was almost laughable if it wasn't so condescending.
I ride the bus occasionally, and I've never noticed any passenger
with objectionable odors, B.O, etc. Okay, so some of the passengers
don't own a car, but that's no reason to be condescending toward
them. Some people sometimes take the bus as an alternate to
driving their car. Talk about overkill and class warfare.
Since we're on this subject, how about replacing the buses with
ones like they have in Prince Rupert. Their buses and the Ketchikan
buses are like comparing day and night.
Carol Baines
Ketchikan, AK
About: "Retired Medical
Transcriber"
Received December 15, 2007
- Published December 17, 2007
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