By James Breckenridge. I found myself standing on Gladys Avenue pondering the reappearance of a radar unit that displays the speed you are driving beside a sign showing the posted speed limit.
Folk lore contains many signs said to predict future occurences such as the native peoples woolly bear caterpillar …
.
… or this ditty from our British roots:
Onion skins very thin
Mild winter coming in;
Onion skins thick and tough
Coming winter cold and rough
The last appearance of the radar unit on Gladys Avenue in this location foreshadowed the City of Abbotsford’s incursion and pillaging of the homeless camp on Gladys.
I suppose it was foolish to hope that given the unmitigated fiasco of the recent assault by the city on the homeless camping on Gladys, a fiasco beamed around the world by the Global uplink truck and wonderfully enhancing Abbotsford’s growing worldwide reputation as lackwits of the first order, that council would finally have reached a point were they would face the reality of homelessness in Abbotsford rather than continuing to insist that homelessness in Abbotsford conform to what they want it to be.
I admit to my wishful thinking and acknowledge that if city council were at last ready to stop doing the same pointless behaviours over and over and begin to address the reality of homelessness, council would have rezoned the Abbotsford Community Services property and allowed construction of first stage housing to commence.
The passage of time and the occurrence of events will, if we pay attention, teach us whether the radar unit is a sign of an imminent return to Gladys Avenue by city forces to once again set upon the homeless, or not.
Unfortunately, city council seem incapable of learning from the passage of time and the occurrence of events, remaining mired in repeating – over and over and over – actions and behaviours experience has demonstrated – time after time after time – to be pointless and ineffective.
Someone needs to explain to Council that that the adage is “If at first you don’t succeed, try try again” the adage is NOT “If at first you don’t succeed, keep doing the same thing over and over expecting a different outcome.”
We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them – Albert Einstein