— from Joseph Murphy —
A few years before the Doty’s relinquished the space that is now the
Orcas Food Coop, a sign went up in front of the cash register station. It
depicted a primitive version of the now ubiquitous ‘cell phone”
circumscribed by red circle and slash. The universal sign of
approbation, as in, “Don’t even think about it.”
“I have never seen such an obtrusive technology just take over like this,”
Jeannie Doty would say.
Each afternoon I walk to North Beach public access. Between April and
October, we all know what THAT means. Touri. In mass quantities. Now,
I don’t mind answering endless queries concerning the name of that big
old mountain hanging in the Western sky (“Yes, Baker was the name given
it by the colonialists. It’s actually,”Kulshan.”)
But I do mind when people park facing the water so they can gab to their
friends back in civilization about how beautiful it is here between
gossip, “Game of Thrones” plot twists and those awful Republicans, etc.
Sometimes, if one is extremely fortunate, it is a clear and quiet day in
summer, and then suddenly someone is making loud dinner reservations for when they get back to L.A.
Enough!
Dear County: Please consider adding, “No Cellphone Conversations” to the
list of “Nos” that adorn your ‘public’ signs. Spray paint is cheap. Let me know if I can help.
More than a trace has been left.
