We’re becoming a you know what

Work in Progress

By Ivan Morgan

Try as I might I can’t get past this. (If you are reading this while eating maybe skip this ‘til later.)

Last week on a warm sunny July midday, on my street in downtown St. John’s, my neighbours were busy doing things around their homes. A fellow walking up the street suddenly stopped –

in the middle of the day – hauled down his pants and did it on the sidewalk.

Yup, he went. This is a community paper so I can’t write what witnesses said he did. Let’s suffice it to say he went number two, or maybe we say the medical term “defecate.” Right in front of everyone. On the sidewalk of a residential street. In the middle of the say. Neighbours say he then pulled up his pants and wandered away.

A word about my neighbourhood. Its mostly older people (and I’m no spring chicken) many who have lived there for over 40 years. This is not something any of them have seen before. They were not happy. This caused quite a stir.

And it left me thinking.

First the practical aspects. Dude was gone before anyone could react. Were the police coming? One of my favourite restaurants was robbed of $1,000, they had video of the thief, and the cops didn’t come.

How about the City coming to clean it? Nope.

Again, I apologize for the image, but I am trying to make a point. I’m not cleaning it up, nor is anyone else on the street. Among the multitude of reasons is health. Not going there. So, it sits on the sidewalk, in the baking sun, day after day. An earlier draft had more description, but you get the point.

This happened and there was no help.

I have watched for at least a decade as this city is changing, and not for the better. Incidents which a decade ago were unheard of are becoming commonplace. My wife was grabbed by a man in broad daylight while she was walking our dogs in a park. We had a fellow nearly die of an overdose on the sidewalk across from our house. My car has been burgled numerous times. All this but for some reason this particular act has freaked me out.

My neighbours, who have been happily paying taxes for decades, now wonder aloud why they do. Various levels of government take our money and do nothing. It’s very clear we are on our own. Many write this off as far right rhetoric. It’s not. It’s a fact.

What are we going to do about this? I don’t know where to start. This is so outside the boundaries of human behaviour, so outside what we refer to as “polite society” I don’t know what to make of it. Now I am hearing this is not an isolated incident. This has happened to others. Seriously.

Clearly this fellow needs help. Clearly, he’s not getting it. Clearly neither are we. This is about not getting services we need and pay for. All of us.

The drug problem in this province is rampant, and no one is offering any solutions. Mental health issues are not being dealt with adequately.  All we ever seem to hear from government is blame. Opposition blames government, government blames them back, city counsellors busy themselves blaming each other for silly things. How about some clear-eyed useful solutions?

To me this incident is a bellwether. This is not about the police or City workers failing. This is about our leadership failing. This is about the fact there is no leadership.  

Do we as residents deserve protection from what’s happening? I have written this column before to no effect. I am far from alone. Social media teems with people posting about terrible behaviour, but nothing ever seems to be done.  Can we get anything besides a press release from a politician saying how much they care and they are working on it?

Or am I overreacting?