A letter to the City of Port Alberni

To the City of Port Alberni:

Allow me to begin by pointing out a few obvious things:

1) Your city gets a lot of rain
2) Paint may become slippery when wet
3) There are several thousand people in your town over the age of 65
4) Old hips may be brittle and easily broken

You’re probably wondering why I’m pointing this out to you. After all, these four things are commonly known phenomenon. I’m writing because after an event that happened to me on the Labour day weekend I’ve become even more concerned for the well-being of the seniors in your community.

On the Sunday of the Labour day weekend I was walking to a restaurant with my in-laws. As we were crossing the street my foot landed on the painted boundary of the crosswalk. It had been raining that day and the paint, unbeknownst to me, was slippery. My foot instantly slipped out from under me taking the other one with it. I landed hard on my left side.

Now, fortunately, I’m a young healthy 28 year old who’s not likely to break something with such a fall. However, if you add fifty years to my age and there could have been serious problems. I could have ended up in the hospital for a lengthy stay.

This could be the fifth obvious point: lengthy hospital stays are a drain on public funds. As a tax payer I feel it is imperative that I point this out to you. Perhaps if you used a textured paint we could avoid causing pain to seniors and clogging our hospitals with avoidable injuries.

Thanks for considering these things.