Balance
I took brooke’s advice – she said “do something” about the graffiti. That is, vent in an appropriate way. So, I did. I wrote an e-mail to the local business improvement association and to the councillor. I did a bit of research on the ‘net to find out what the city and Police Service have to say. I talked about it with friends and family. Even at the Y this morning a member heard me talking about it with Jackie, and he said “get rid of it” – he’d had the same experience.
So after the Y this morning I got on the phone and started calling. The Police Service automated message about Graffiti Eradication says to get rid of it after reporting it. I did report it; two officers came out – one took my statement and another took photographs. They said the Police do keep track of the graffiti. If the vandal is caught doing the bad deed somewhere, they check their records to determine if they’ve done it somewhere else also. The attending officer also suggesting cleaning it up because it may help determine if it’s a “one-off” or someone with a vendetta – potentially against one of the business owners in the building. Presumably if it’s a vendetta, the vandal will come back and do it again.
I’ve called two graffiti removal companies for estimates. I will have to live with the unsightly mess until warmer weather as the removal can’t be done in freezing weather.
I also called the city as their website for the Graffiti Abatement Program says to call in to report it. But what they don’t make clear is that they only want a report if the graffiti is on city property. I told the operator their parking meter got tagged, but she didn’t seem to care about that. She did say I could lodge a complaint with Municipal Licensing and Standards, but to me that’s a route to follow if it’s someone else’s building you’re complaining about.
I do feel better. Actually, two other things helped too. The first was when I called the Police to report I had to listen to the automated message prompts regarding emergencies or personal injuries. Kinda made me think “thank goodness.” The other thing that worked was looking at the graffiti a bit more. It’s bad, yes. I didn’t ask for it, true. The words are stoopid – “DOA” and “ZINE” – true. But it’s paint, not fire, not a tree falling into the building, or a gas explosion.
And then this helped too. I put on jeans that I had bought a couple of months ago without trying them on first. I had made the assumption they would fit. But they were too tight. I’ve pulled them out of the back of the closet a couple of times since I bought them, but they’ve continued to be too tight. Until today! Yeah me!
So, even though the scales have been stubbornly stuck at pretty much the same number for the past 6-8 weeks, at least my body shape is shifting.
Good. Balance. Breathing.
