The May 27 edition of The Chief included a letter to the editor from a reader from Garibaldi Highlands who offered complaints about the purported rudeness of his and his wife's neighbours toward the couple, who have lived in the area for about six months. When the letter first arrived, this writer thought sending a letter to the local newspaper was a rather awkward and indirect way to approach to such a problem. Why not just continue trying to break the ice, face to face?
However, the response through the online comments section of www.squamishchief.com has stoked (we can't say "restored" because we had none before) this writer's faith in the power of the blogosphere to serve as a forum for meaningful discussion. The comments -whether agreeing or disagreeing with the general premise that some/all/only a few Squamoleans are rude or unfriendly -all showed great empathy toward the writer's plight and demonstrated that we as a community really care about the way we treat each other, newcomer and oldtimer alike.
Despite our initial hesitation, we'd like to offer sincere thanks to the original letter writer for providing the thoughts that sparked the discussion.
A few of the comments are noteworthy. Lady_Bla_Bla, who said (her, we presume) family moved here six years ago, "are a very friendly, social family that have gone out of our way to people but when we first arrived and spoke to people, or said, 'good morning,' we were just ignored! We found the people quite rude and unfriendly for no reason whatsoever and totally ignorant to 'outsiders.'" In the end, though, the same writer stated that she has found "some truly amazing people" living here and urged the original writer to persevere in the effort to find acceptance.
Another writer stated that he was "having a hard time believing what [the original writer] is saying," adding, "Yes, there are a few exceptions, but for the most part people are generally friendly." Still another, LemurLover, was more direct: "I truly hope you both settle down well. Remember, when people are rude, it's not about you, it's about them."
There was discussion of the friendliness or lack thereof of those who live in the Highlands, the Estates, and downtown. Jumar1, who stated that he/she lives in Garibaldi Estates, stated that when people generally ignore each other, "it really, really sucks, as we've lived in tight communities before and it's one of our only problems living in Squamish." The same writer also made reference to the original writer's suggestion that his and his spouse's neighbours were being rude because they're American, stating sympathetically, "We're Canadian, and we're having trouble breaking in, too." However, "Having lived in many places right across Canada and the U.S., there's nothing unique about this. Most people just aren't friendly until you break into their shell," Jumar1 wrote.
A few thousand of us have been in Squamish for our whole lives, but whether we've been here for nine months, nine or 90 years, we all bring different histories and experiences to the table. Communities aren't built in a day, but the project becomes so much less laborious if we adhere to the adage that "many hands make light work" and approach our neighbours every day as though our personal interactions really do matter.
- David Burke
