Fake sidewalk work
A terrible traffic situation was a call to action
After one of our weekly meetings, where we meditated together on a passage of the Gospel, something stayed with me: “Where there is dishonesty, any action, small as it may be, is worth taking.”
Lately, I noticed there were “No parking” signs on both sides of the street where I live. At the corner of my street there is a daycare center and a restaurant, and both cause incredible traffic during peak hours. Parents who have to pick up their child at the daycare could only double-park in order to get their child in the car, causing even more congestion.
The first days I hesitated, but on the third day, I felt a little voice urging me to try to do something. I finally called the town hall in order to complain about the company in charge of the construction work, saying that people in the neighborhood are not able to park due to the “No parking” signs on both sides of the street.
The receptionist passed me from one person to another, at least four times. Then finally, I was able to talk to the person in charge. He told me that the signs were there because they were redoing the sidewalks. I replied that they just did that less than two years ago.
He then said it might be because of the sewerage. Not losing my patience, I told him that it’s impossible because this was done only recently.
Sensing that this was something weird going on, I felt I had to put my foot down. I surprised myself saying, “On Monday I will remove the signs from the two sides of the street and put them on the sidewalk.”
Guess what? The next day, around 4pm, some trucks from the town hall came to take away the signs. It seemed that the private company was trying to claim that they did some work and was sending a bill to the town to pay. Eventually, the community would have had to pay for this invisible and unnecessary work.
Following that little voice contributed to dismantle some dishonesty that would have harmed the community.
Francine Gilbert, Québec, Canada