‘Davids’ Want Their Way Or No Way: BENN

Standard protocol from the “Davids” of life. Their solution is the only solution.

A solution that starts with they don’t like what people are doing (driving their cars) so those people need to be punished. How did that start-with-a-punishment technique work when your parents were trying to get you to change your behaviour? How did that start-with-a-punishment technique work, assuming you have kids, when you were trying to get them to change their behaviour? How about in school? Ever say words to the effect of “You just don’t understand.” and “That’s not fair.”?

That transit might not meet the individual needs of every driver is not part of the Davids’ equation. That some people might need to move around the city throughout the day is ignored. They might wish to recall that during the term of the previous council a number of councillors agreed to take transit for a week. One of them bailed after the Monday, as she needed to move frequently around the city and OC Transpo could not meet her needs.

That for some people transit is not near their homes, and the park-and-ride lots along their route are full. That the Davids can’t be bothered to think about the why people drive their cars rather than take transit is so very tiresome.

Privately owned parking lots are allowed to set their own rates, for the most part on a supply-and-demand basis. How do you, David, propose that the city enforce higher rates in a free-market economic system? By edict from on high? With a tax based on the difference between what the parking lot owner was charging and what you deem to be the appropriate amount? Should that apply to the seriously under-priced city-hall parking garage?

In short, the Davids, like the Karens need to be aware of the vast array of situations that are not identical to theirs. To accept that their solution is not the only solution, assuming that their solution is even a solution. To be empathetic of others, and not be so self-centered.

In short, to park their self-righteousness and view life through a broader, more inclusive lens. A lens that sees the vast diversity of needs. A lens that accepts that equitable outcomes are often in the eyes of the beholder, recognizing that neither David nor Karen are not the only beholders.

Ron Benn, a finance executive, has been a member of the Centrepointe Community Association for the better part of three decades.

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