RANT to boaters on Lake Washington. It’s summer … the swimmers, boaters and skiers are always welcome. We love them all. The rant goes out to the boaters who blast the VERY LOUD music as they speed around the lake. We all waited for the sunshine. Please turn your loud music down.
RAVE to the customers in line behind a food bank employee with $100 to spend at a Bremerton grocery store. Customers in the line behind her started passing money forward to her. The donations totaled $300.
RANT to Seattle Parks and Recreation for choosing to do trail work on the Burke-Gilman Trail on a Saturday (when many people like to use it) and route the detour through a residential neighborhood with grades of up to 15%, to say nothing of the curves and lots of driveways. Why not a Tuesday? And why not route the detour along a parallel street?
RAVE to a helpful driver. Recently, I was going to my 78th birthday dinner and got stuck in nasty traffic in the North 34th Street and North Northlake Way area. I left my cellphone at home and wrote a note with directions to the spot where I was supposed to meet my nephew and his family along with the phone number. At a red light, I put my car in park, jumped out, knocked on the window of the dark blue car in front, told her my plight and asked if she would call and give the message to my nephew. She did; they got the message. Many thanks to the good Samaritan. It’s nice to know Seattle has them.
RANT to the group of six to eight teenage boys sitting outside the women’s bathroom at Hiawatha Community Center in West Seattle, spray-painting graffiti in the bathroom and on the exterior brick wall and window. When asked to leave, they just laughed, said it was just for fun and continued vandalizing, saying the bathroom was only used by the homeless. Grow up and do something useful with your summer!
RAVE to the incredible stranger who saw my dog struggling in the heat from her apartment window near Pike Place and ran down to bring her a cup of dog-friendly ice cream. Hopefully I can repay her one day with some human-friendly ice cream!
RANT to the Link light rail, which regularly only runs a total of three cars during peak travel times (especially between 5 and 6 p.m.). There seems to be no reason why a train staffed by one operator should be running at less than the full four cars during rush hour. It causes passengers to have to scramble to make the train, and causes serious overcrowding.
RAVE to the woman in Kingston who ran back to the boarding platform when she saw us walking up to the ramp. We would have missed the ferry because the schedule was off due to late departures. We thank you!
RAVE to my trusty box fan for getting me through another heat wave! I paid $5 for it (brand-new!) 35 years ago, and I just have to blow the dust out once every few years to keep it running perfectly. They don’t make stuff like they used to!
RANT to luxury SUV owners with empty bicycle racks extending off the back as they parallel park in residential areas near popular restaurants. Too often, they take up two parking spots or block driveway access with that unused bicycle rack. Bonus rant if the car has multiple environmental-awareness bumper stickers or it’s so squeaky clean that it’s obviously never been off-road.
RAVE to the four great guys, who came to the aid of my friend, who fell on the sidewalk near the 5th Avenue Theatre. She is a senior, with new knees and shoulders. They were wonderfully respectful and helpful to us in our time of need, despite the 95-degree heat and COVID.
RAVE to the person who found my car keys in the parking lot at a Kenmore coffee shop. Thank you so much! I must have dropped them on my way to meet my husband. And thanks to the barista who queried me to be sure that I was the right person to give the keys to.
The opinions expressed in reader comments are those of the author only and do not reflect the opinions of The Seattle Times.