Yes, ouch. It hurts to pass by and see the graffiti. It debases our community image and the "feel good" sensation of being here. This area is so incredibly beautiful, but some people don't seem to notice. It just takes one disturbed individual who has little respect for the aina, no respect for others living here, and no sense of community.
But there are those in our community who care and are action oriented.....
I happened upon one caring individual removing the paint from the reflective markers. An incredible member of our community here.
As for the power boxes, another person tackled that task. The first coat of paint hid most of the graffiti. Five minutes after this photo was taken, the second coat completed the job.
I find it's amazing to live in a community where people take the effort to make it a good place to be. Not just those who clean up the graffiti mess, but we have people here who, on their own, clean up roadside litter that others thoughtlessly, uncaringly toss out their car windows. Other folks clean up the old cemetery here. Yet others help out seniors and housebound folks. Groups get organized to clean up trash from the coastlines and ponds. Many home gardeners share food with others, be they friends or strangers. It feel very good to be living among these wonderful people.
I often wish I could package this sense of community cooperation and spread it around to other communities, because how wonderful would it be if more people could experience this type of community life!
Su Ba, chat with your local gendarmes - one of them probably took note, and they can explain these "turf signs". Likely as not, they can tell which perp tagged the area. I saw some of the same type of stuff in Maui, and even considered getting a well-concealed game-cam to document who was doing it. The cops just laughed at my naivete. But anyone who has seen San Francisco laughs, too... Sad comment.
ReplyDeleteThe cops in my area don't have the time nor interest to worry about graffiti. We don't have real visible gangs here, but I'm sure the young local boys group up and play "gang". Anything for macho status when they're young bucks, I suppose.
ReplyDeleteSometimes the graffiti consists of symbols, like this time around. But other times it's simply defacing spray paint or "Kimo loves Ipo" sort of thing. Regardless, residents here find it all to be annoying, disheartening, depressing to look at. The last time I went around covering up graffiti, it was the f word sprayed here, there, anywhere. One angry teen who didn't know how to handle his problem. Sigh.
Speaking of game cams, I love them. Cheap. Easy to use. Effective once I put out the word that I have a dozen cams hidden around the place. I haven't had any trespassing incidents by my troublesome neighbor since I left empty trail cam boxes sitting around on the ground by my gates and front property line.
OOOOooooooohh, you so Akamai! Empty boxes, fake-out and fear they be already filmed, Way cool idea.
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