CHEERS
TRANSITION: Everyone knows change is here, but what does the future look like? The end of the United States because we haven't been united in a long time. Since everything is interconnected, when you pull on one thread, things start to unravel. What you end up with is the Americas, all three of them, joining forces to create a free trade zone between the Americans and the rest of the world, but the transition to get there will be painful.TESLA COUNTER-PROTESTERS: Wasn't sure to write jeers or cheers about Tesla-Tuesday counter-protesters but decided if we weren't making an impact they wouldn't be out there, so thanks! Why they're supportting authorianism, racism and a man who by all accounts is a real weirdo is for them to face. We know we're on the right side of history.
FEWER PEOPLE NOT MORE HOUSES: Cheers to everyone trying to preserve the largest area of undeveloped land left in the Spokane city limits (south of Thorpe Road). We don't need more houses... we need fewer people. There needs to be wild lands for wild animals to live.
JUST A NOD: A nod to the Holey Pothole. After 500 years we have perfected the pothole. In the 14th and 15th century potters would recognize clay in the ruts in the road and they would dig out the clay to make pots leaving a large "Pothole." Today we make potholes everywhere. There are Epic potholes around Spokane. Maybe in your neighborhood. I've seen potholes that border on sinkholes. In two states there are potholes that provide incomes to used hubcap dealers. They provide hundreds of jobs and all sorts of ancillary benefits in the form of mechanical engineering (suspensions) and car repairs. Why here in Spokane they are an industry. It's time to embrace our potholes. Give them their due, recognize their import in the environment and the economy. Can we even learn to...love them? So to the Holey Pothole...a nod. But the next time I hit one "I'll...!!"
IT'S A NICE START! Nicely done! Good job Spokane. I knew you could do it. Keep it up. I love you people.
YOUTH IS INSPIRING: To the Youth! We see you with the mess passed to you and we are devastated and Sorry. We find hope in the Youth and seek to protect people and planet so you can ALL flourish. Thanks for the PJALS protest. We will stand by you. Peace!
JEERS
TO MY "BESTIE" To my "Bestie," I want to thank you for exposing what I hadn't known about you for 35 years and that is: you are a hypocrite. You decided to dump me as a friend when you saw a picture of me in a Trump T-shirt. Your response was to call me and tell me "we can't go on vacation together." And following that announcement, the conversation turned into basically dumping me as a friend. We've known each other for 35 years, so your response to my personal election vote came as a surprise. Here's the hypocrisy: You think you're fighting something which is divisive and vicious, but your response to that is to be divisive and vicious. I don't wish to be friends with someone who's hypocritical, divisive and vicious. So thank you for exposing yourself.SPOKANE TRANSIT: Is getting worse. The Mirabeau Point Park-and-Ride took like eight months to rebuild, and there's still no pedestrian bridge to the apartments behind it. So why did rebuilding it take so long? The buses are still late across the cities and don't approach the platforms where they're supposed to. They aren't doing a great job of mobility training since it still takes people THIRTY SECONDS TO GET THEIR PASSES READY AFTER THEY GET IN THE BUS. Maybe all the money spent on that freeway could have been better spent on our transit system.
EXPIRED TABS: Dear Spokane Law Enforcement: Please start to pull over cars with expired license tabs and issue them tickets. We're aware that the fine is $145 if expired for up to two months and $237 if expired for more than two months. Some cars driving on the road have tabs that expired several years ago. Please start ticketing these total losers. Perhaps enough zeros will get the message and actually begin to follow the law. Thank you.
TO MYSELF: Every Tuesday morning I travel from the south and my MIL travels from the north and we meet in the Grocery Outlet parking lot so she can pick up our 2-year-old who she watches on those days. This most recent Tuesday, I bought some plants after dropping her off. When I returned to my car, you approached me and asked if you could ask me a question. My immediate response was "no," and I got in my car. I spent the remainder of my day wondering what you were going to ask me and feeling bad that I didn't give you the opportunity to do so. I have no idea what you were going to ask, but I made a judgment before I gave you the chance. You appeared unhoused and if someone else who had a different appearance asked me the same thing I likely would have had a different response. I don't know if you will read this, but I want you to know I am sorry. I am better than that response. Perhaps in these tenuous times, we can stop being so jaded and think about our responses to one another (no matter our perceived notions) because we all need a lot more love right now.
MERIT BASED EMPLOYMENT: This is for the person critical of DEI in the April 17-23 issue of the Inlander. So, would you want the person showing up when your house is on fire to have been hired solely because they met the "merit-based" criteria of being white, male and straight? This was the problem that DEI was created to help solve, mostly because the "merit-based" employment systems you mentioned were often anything but. Are there problems in the way some businesses and organizations have implemented DEI? Of course, but so were there issues with the "merit-based" employment systems you seem to feel were so effective in hiring just the right people. I think one of the best examples of a merit-based system that is actually based on anything but merit are the Cabinet members and advisers of the current resident of the White House.
CAR TABS: Enough already! I didn't buy my car tabs because I can't afford to. I'm in my 60s and on a fixed income with no assets, my manufactured home on leased land. My lot rent went up. My car insurance tripled on a 27-year-old car with 190,000 miles on it. I drive less than 5 miles a day. My home owners insurance went up 200%. I had to dump both because if I were to pay those 2 bills, along with Avista and lot rent? I would be left with $100. As it is, I can barely afford food. I should be grateful for the $69 in food stamps. Oh did I mention my personal property taxes? They tripled as well. So to you people giving me and others shit for not buying car tabs? Unless you'd like to give me and others who are struggling money? I suggest you sit down and stfu. And thank GOD you aren't struggling.
SPOKANE'S IRONY: So, let's block off a lane on Main Street in front of River Park Square to host a press conference on the new traffic initiatives aimed at safety. How ironic! You couldn't hold such announcement on the large sidewalk in front of the building instead of "blocking" traffic. Literally standing in the road, especially downtown, is a safety hazard in itself even with a few traffic cones. How about we enforce jaywalking!! I can't tell you how many times "DAILY" I have to slam on my brakes because a pedestrian decided to just jump right out in front of me between parked cars. How about the pedestrians who decide to cross at the crosswalk as soon as a green light appears for the oncoming vehicles. Do pedestrians not have to follow the crossing signals as vehicles must obey traffic lights? Lastly, how about policing up all the "Fentanyl Dancers" who feel as though the middle of the street is the best dance floor to conduct their business. Do better! Let's not keep regulating law abiding people in the name of safety for people who put themselves in harm's way. We are free to make our own choices. If they chose to put themselves in danger, then so be it.
CANNABIS COVERAGE: I LOVE the INLANDER! But when enjoying the Inland Northwest, having a cannabis section that takes up a quarter of your paper SUCKS!!! Tell me about how GREAT Spokane is and what's going on! Not about getting HIGH!!
RE: DOG POOP IN TRASH YOUR TRASH CAN: With all the problems in the world your inane complaint is people leaving dog poop in your trash can? Next time I'll just leave it on your lawn. You know what else stinks besides dog poop? Garbage.
SPOKANE TESLA DRIVERS: No, you're not imagining things — that middle finger is for you. Your taste in vehicles? Tragic. Your endorsement of Elon Musk? Heil-arious. That Cybertruck you're driving? Straight-up SDE. You are an all-around moron. You're not edgy, you're just enabling one of the biggest con jobs of our time. They're robbing us blind, and you're rolling out the red carpet. ♦
