There’s an aphorism that says something like 'you can gauge the quality of a society by how it treats its most vulnerable.'
For vulnerable here, read the cadre of seniors who are still upright, but not as flexible as they used to be. The thought of navigating wintry pavements fills us with terror each November. What if I fall and break something, will this be the winter that does me in?
Cut to mid-February in downtown Midland.
Made it this far. Only another six weeks to go.
Time to pick up a prescription curbside from the pharmacy to keep the old bod going. Crawl out of car into inches of snow, cross further drift to reach the cleared section of sidewalk. Collect prescription and reverse hazardous trek back to car. And I’m fortunate enough to have a car! As I waited curbside, two other old women battle their way on foot to reach the pharmacy.
Next stop, the library to return a book to the slot. Navigate same piles of snow to reach the safety of the library steps, which were gloriously bare and safe. Hike across tundra back to car.
Third stop, the LCBO. Might as well carpe diem!
If COVID-19 doesn’t get us, likely the snow and ice will. Unexpected relief- a completely bare pavement with not a hint of winter. Sadly because it’s so far from the town centre, there’s no sign of the other old women. No genie in a bottle for them.
Question: If the Huronia Mall, Foodland and the LCBO to name three can have clear sidewalks and parking lots, why can’t the town?
There’s no point in constantly badgering us to support downtown businesses when accessing them from the street is fraught with so many frozen hazards.
This isn’t just an old lady issue. What about those in wheelchairs and the young women pushing strollers?
Vaccines are on the way they say, so is spring.
In the meantime, dear Town, as the slogan goes, please 'be nice, clear the ice.'
