Melissa Kite Melissa Kite

Real Life | 31 October 2009

Sign of the times

issue 31 October 2009

Sometimes the irritations are so great, you just have to stand up and be irritating right back. So it was that I found myself loitering under an ugly new sign at the bottom of my road, holding a petition. ‘Excuse me, sir? Would you like to protest about these horrible signs? They cost £1,000 of your taxpayer’s money and as you can see they are obtrusive, ruin our view of the common and serve no purpose whatsoever except to advertise the local authority.’

I love Nimbyism. I think it is a much underrated attitude. I can’t understand why it’s so frowned upon. In fact, I think it’s really hypocritical and shortsighted of politicians to object to people objecting. On the one hand, they exhort us to take pride in our surroundings, to care about the environment, to get involved in the local community, then they come over all outraged when we start caring too much.

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