Getting stuck behind ATVs could have its perks
Editor:
I am a little confused after watching the [July 27] council meeting on Zoom talking about speeding.
I am not sure that council realized that ATVs using our roads would solve the speed problem as ATVs in Ontario are limited to no more than 20 km/h on the road so we will all be stuck behind them with no chance to speed!
Glenn Brown,
Creemore.
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I moved recently to the Creemore area with my wife and family. My son had an experience today that I find disturbing and that I would like to share if only to encourage others not to let such things go by without condemnation. I had asked him to run out to buy me some fuel for my lawnmower and tractor. He drove down to Cashtown, parked the truck and carried the fuel cans to the pump to fill. There was someone filling a vehicle in front of him so he waited in line for them to finish. As he was waiting another vehicle drove up near the same pump and the driver began revving his engine and motioning for my son to get out of the way. My son did not move as he was ahead in line. The person proceeded to jump out of his vehicle and yell at my son telling him to go back to the country he came from. My son has a dark hair and a beard so I assume the person drew on some stereotype image he had in his head of a foreigner and thought he was justified in his xenophobic rant. Fortunately, my son reacted calmly and simply suggested that the person take advantage of one of the many other available pumps without escalating the situation. That and the disapproving looks the person was receiving from other patrons was apparently enough to make him tuck his tail between his legs and move on. I tried to view this from the perspective of the other person. I imagined that he was having a lousy day. Maybe he was in a rush to be somewhere and found out late that he needed to stop for fuel and when he got to the pump he saw someone standing in the way not in vehicle. Maybe he didn’t notice the fuel cans my son had with him and assumed my son was just blocking the way to be an ass. Maybe he assumed my son was ignoring him when he tried to get him to move. I can empathize. Misunderstandings happen all the time. A simple misapprehension of a situation when you are stressed can make the blood boil. However, that this person’s default reaction to the situation was speech and conduct that reveals a most base and intolerant prejudice concerns me deeply. I will not sit silently in the face of such conduct. It is unacceptable in a civilized world. Left unchallenged it fester’s and grows. I will raise my voice in protest whenever I encounter it and I encourage others to do the same.