Years ago when I lived in an apartment, there was a news story about the tenants at a townhouse complex who were fighting about the kids playing street hockey. At the time, I was of the opinion that the kids should be allowed to play. What's the big deal? I thought. How bad can it be?
But now I live at the end of a cul-de-sac and multitudes of children gather at the top of the street by the intersection. They are rude, and cheeky and even dare to make the 'slow down' sign when you're driving down the road - and trust me, I'm in second gear and driving slower than the legal limit for a school zone. In fact, the fastest drivers on my street - are parents!
Yesterday when I left the cul-de-sac I had to wait for a cat who thought that walking down the middle of the road would be a good place to be, so I waited, alternating my clutch and first gear because all the kids and adults on the street thought it was so cute. When I returned there was a large gathering of kids at the top of my street. A group of girls to the right completely ignored the fact that a car was approaching and the group of boys to the left also seemed to not care even though a hockey stick was laying across the road. No one made a move to pick up the stick or even seemed to care, so what was my choice? I drove over it. Then in my rearview mirror I can see the kid who was sitting on the ground in the goalie's net with his mouth wide-open, acting shocked that I had done such a horrible thing.
I checked with JP, he said the same thing's happened to him, and when I asked him what he's done, he said he drove over the stick too.
When I bought the house I thought being in a cul-de-sac was a good thing. I thought there'd be less noise from cars roaring past. But I didn't think that you can be trapped, with only one way out. And that if you live at the end, you have zero parking because of the curve and that people from elsewhere on the end of the street think that the circle (which is in front of me) is an ideal hockey arena and slap shooting into people's cars or houses isn't a big deal.
And with lots of sports loving parents on the street, what can you do?
Oh, and 1 by-law officer who takes three months (really) to return phone calls.
2 comments:
When I lived in Burnaby we had a dead-end paved back lane. The kids played hockey there all the time. They did at least move out of the way when a car came, but they were NOISY. I often had to ask them to be quiet or better yet, take it to the park just one block away ..... so they moved farther down the lane. Don't even get me started about the firecrackers from September til November. I'm sure Mike & Carol can attest (they live in our house now). Since we moved to Endako.....no noise. LOVE IT!
Oh yes. I bet they are noisy. I'm glad the kids on my street are far enough away. But by living at the end of a cul-de-sac, I'm trapped.
And don't even get me started with the firecrackers too! I have one dog that F-R-E-A-K-S when she hears that sound. I HATE firecrackers and think they should be banned.... see? I told you not to get me started.
How do Mike and Carol cope with it?
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