Dear Editor:
I’m going to play tourist for a minute for purposes of painting a picture. I’m driving into Pagosa Springs – a town I’ve heard so much about yet have never been able to visit.
Deepest Hot Springs in the world? Adorable mountain town with lots of great shops? I’m intrigued. I’ll just be passing through, but it’s worth the stop, right?
One of the first things I notice is a flashing sign alerting me that there are traffic restrictions ahead, then another message, lane restrictions,…another… businesses are open during construction, (ok, good, I think...I really want to stop, eat and shop), and then another, watch for pedestrians, (oh, good, this place accommodates the afternoon stroll my legs need). As I come down the hill, the looming construction I’ve been warned of enters my sight. Whew!! They weren’t kidding, this is intense. But wait, what is all this? A parade? A group of… oh wait, no,…a protest? About what? A person in a bee costume? What do these signs say?...Fox News is Lying? Elon Must Go? Yelling and screaming but I have no idea what they are saying.
By the time this distraction passes, I’m part way through downtown and have been narrowly missed by a passing semi in this tiny 10‘wide space I have to pull my trailer. Now, I’m not sure where to park. I see all the shops, but do I really want to deal with a town with an active protest going on? Is this worth the stop? They are taking up the sidewalk I planned to walk on….Never mind, I think I’ll just keep driving.
I hope this small snippet of what it looks like when the protesters who continue to waste time lining the streets downtown rallying for ‘a cause’, are really doing.
Take a moment, would you please, and think about the businesses downtown who are struggling to keep their doors open. Instead of holding several signs with wasteful negativity on them, how about promoting our little town with signs exclaiming to them: We are Amazing!! Stop here!
Businesses Open!! In doing this, we are collectively trying to keep our county’s economy alive with some positivity. (crazy concept, right?) Is it so difficult to drop these senseless and ‘silent’ protests to HELP this community? Can we agree to disagree for the sake of the community?
Protests are not going to change anything. All they are accomplishing is a disruption in traffic, and what could cause an accident. You are painting Pagosa in a negative light as a town divided, not one which stands together as the resilient group we truly are.
Do us all a favor and stand down with the political rhetoric and stand up for the community you say you love. Change the signs or pack up and take a hike before the tourists land.
Jeanine Springer
