Monday, January 21, 2013

Red tape

A quiet weekend.  Today I went for crosswalk duty and found the road in front of the school all cleared away from ice and snow.  This is thanks to the sweet shop owner's son.  Let me tell you... I guess we have red tape woes all over the world. 

At the beginning of December I personally reported to the City Safety Bureau that the street in front of the school needed a supply of sand for when snowy days come upon us.  I was told I was jumping the gun and the city would deliver sand by the new year.  (And I was assured it wouldn't snow before January...  How do THEY know?)

But January came and though sand was delivered to other corners of the neighborhood, no sand bags in front of the school.  The principal and I commiserated.  He said he would call and ask for a delivery.

And then it snowed.  And then the snow melted.  And then it froze.  And for two days last week we had children slipping and falling on the sidewalk.  But that is actually a small problem.  The kids seem to LIKE the slipping and tumbling.  They purposely walk on the icy patches no matter my warnings.  It's the ROAD that is the problem!!!  The one road on the corner is clear of snow (a snow truck came by and cleared the road).  The other road at the corner is icebound and unsuspecting cars skid at the stop sign.  THAT'S the road that needs the sand!

The principal reported back that the city told him that one road is a prefecture road, the other is a city road, and the only roads that are included in budgeting are the prefecture roads.  Thus the other road gets ignored.  The sweet shop owner came out and joined the conversation.  It seems they have asked the city to uplug their gutter too but they got the same run around. 

So between the principal going out and buying sand himself and the sweetshop owner's son spending hours clearing the road of ice... the road is now safe.

Tonight it is supposed to snow again...


The sweet shop owner's grandson and me... before the snow.  Yep.  That's the get-up I wear daily!  The baby only dresses up as a monkey on alternate days.

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