Skip to content

Editorial: Our civility will need rebuilding

Reading this week’s paper, especially the Kisses and Kicks, one gets the impression the Sunshine Coast has turned into a litter box. A record number of Kicks take aim at this endemic trend.
trash

Reading this week’s paper, especially the Kisses and Kicks, one gets the impression the Sunshine Coast has turned into a litter box.

A record number of Kicks take aim at this endemic trend. Along with general trash, empty hard iced tea cans tossed from vehicles seem to be a common blight that runs from Madeira Park to Roberts Creek Road, where the “Hey Y’all” brand is reportedly favoured. (The more traditional beer cans, about 80 of them, were found strewn along the beach by a Bonniebrook family whose cleanup efforts are profiled in the Community section.)

Sechelt residents have finally resorted to public shaming of the Chatelech Secondary students who drop litter like breadcrumbs between the school and the back of Trail Bay Centre. Despite repeated efforts by the grownups on the scene to talk some sense into the kids, who no doubt are only a small handful of the student population, one fed-up reader points out that a “little old lady” gets stuck cleaning up the mess. At least she gets a Kiss for her trouble.

This increase in littering strikes us as an outward sign of the anti-social behaviour that has manifested during the pandemic. It should surprise no one. Withdrawn into their bubbles, feeling hard done by owing to reduced quality of life, some people will be more inclined to flout civic norms if they can get away with it.

Other types of bad behaviour linked to the pandemic are more obvious. We’ve all heard stories about the appalling mistreatment of retail and service workers, but similar cases from the other side of the counter have also come to our attention.

One example is a woman who was shopping in a drug store. When she lowered her mask to read a product label without her glasses steaming up, an employee threatened to call the RCMP. In another case, RCMP were called on a man at a rec facility, upsetting other patrons who felt it was unwarranted. Another woman, also wearing a mask, was yelled at “like a stray dog” after walking into a liquor store and then yelled at again when she went outside as directed, told to get behind the line.

Fear of exposure to the virus combined with fear of penalties for noncompliance can lead to rigid enforcement of the rules. Isolation can foster an “every man for himself” attitude and face masks can dehumanize others and make oneself feel more anonymous and disconnected. Being constantly patronized, told to “be kind, be gentle,” can trigger the opposite.

It’s important to remember that the gutting of our freedoms of assembly and association has a much greater impact on some people than others.

There’s real suffering happening out there. A survey in early December found 40 per cent of Canadians said their mental health had deteriorated since March. One in three Canadians are drinking more alcohol than they used to.

Civility has taken a back seat to survival for a lot of people. It will take work to rebuild the sense of ease and good feeling that used to pass for everyday living.