Dear Editor:
I live at Sixth Street and Seventh Avenue in an upper floor suite overlooking Sixth Street. As others in the area know, on many a night we hear our fair share of sirens, drunkards and skateboarders.
This past rainy Friday night, at the end of a busy work week for me, a group of young people caused an exceptionally loud racket. At about 1: 30 a.m., and just three hours after I retired my exhausted body, I heard a huge smashing sound followed by repeated bangs. I bolted out of bed and rushed to the window, convinced a break-and-enter was in progress.
What I saw was six or seven young men and women running towards downtown, laughingly pushing over every newspaper box and mailbox in their path. They dropped a bus bench on its back, too.
I scanned the street to see a huge length of the temporary fencing around the old Blockbuster store lying flat, which explained the crashing sound.
I considered calling 911, but the kids were running so fast, they would have been long gone before the operator could get all the necessary information from me. After about 20 minutes, I called the nonemergency number for the New Westminster Police. My concern was not so much about the further nuisance the hooligans were causing, but the pouring rain getting inside the mailboxes and newspaper boxes lying on their backs.
About an hour later (getting back to sleep was incredibly difficult), I was looking out the bedroom window again when I saw a man walking with a coffee cup on the same sidewalk as the earlier group, but in the opposite direction. And at that moment, the events of the night took a complete 180-degree turn.
As the man came upon one of the newspaper boxes on its back, he carefully set down his coffee cup and meticulously repositioned the box. It took a bit more of an effort, but he did the same with the mailbox right next to it. He went to retrieve his coffee cup. You would think the boxes had never been upset. Next was a bus bench: he set down his coffee cup out of the way, where the sidewalk met a nearby store. He approached the sprawled bench and paused, considering. He tried to lift it from one area, but could not get a good grip. Then he tried another and plop! The bench was where and how it should be, ready for passengers to use.
The man continued on his way and met a City of New Westminster tow truck driver at the fallen fencing at the old Blockbuster store.
In unison, the two picked up a length of several joined units of fencing and chatted good naturedly while they did. I could hear the tow truck driver, who had also been picking up after the earlier troublemaking group, tell the Good Samaritan how the fence, boxes, and benches got into the state they did.
The Samaritan was surprised and before he continued on his way, he asked the driver if he needed a hand tonight. The driver politely declined.
I cannot get over the contrast in people's behaviour within just a couple of hours. My heart swells with pride, gratitude, and hope when I think about the lone man who so matter of factly made things right after a group with blatant disregard for common property and others' peace of mind made them so wrong.
Thank you, kind gentleman. By doing the right thing, you made my weekend and that of many others.
The actions of the earlier group of young people made me feel terror, but the actions of the lone man gave me peace. I slept beautifully for about five hours after that.
Anne-Marie Kugler-Yuen, New Westminster
