Stay Classy, St. Charles
On a recent morning walk through downtown St. Charles, I noticed a most curious thing: some of the downtown merchants, in an apparent effort to teach visitors social norms for behavior that we, residents of St. Charles, expect everyone to follow, are posting public-education signs about proper etiquette and good manners.
After I noticed the first one, I saw several more signs of a very similar nature in other downtown storefronts, which led me to believe that this must be some sort of coordinated public awareness campaign. These signs, after making note of particular operational rules of the business posting the sign, appear to offer up a mini refresher course on proper etiquette and good manners in public.
Taking a page straight from Ms. Manners, one such sign makes the effort to remind the gentle reader that "Fighting is punishable by City fine."
I would like to offer a tip of my hat to the establishments participating in this effort for offering up, pro bono, this welcome refresher course in just how adults are supposed to behave in well-mannered, civilized society. With all the pressures of modern life, it is so easy to forget that it is best to settle disagreements in public with words, rather than choosing to beat down the person with whom there is a minor disagreement.
I applaud this group of merchants who, rather than using their valuable display space for more marketing, are turning over that space for the educational benefit of the entire citizenry; I think every downtown merchant should follow their lead in this apparent new campaign to help us Keep St. Charles Classy. Heaven knows, without these much-needed exhortations to keep the urge to pummel fellow citizens in check, we might not win Family Circle's "#1 City in America for Families" award again next year.
Much like the award-winning '05-'08 New York City public awareness campaign warning Wall Street bankers about the dangers of mortgage-backed securities, I believe that this new public etiquette educational campaign could have a real impact on the quality of life here St. Charles.
Now that our shopkeepers have set the bar, I think it is high time for our City government to not only accept the challenge, but to also raise the bar. I would like to suggest that the City make public proclamations in support of every downtown business that joins in this crusade and that awards be given for varying levels of commitment to the cause of civil society, similar to how restaurants are commonly rated.
For example, every business posting a sign reminding the gentle reader that vomiting on our sidewalks is frowned upon should be awarded one star for High-Minded Civic Improvement. Two stars for High-Minded Civic Improvement should be awarded to every business posting a sign reminding the gentle reader that City ordinances forbid urination in public. Three stars should be awarded for providing valuable public education on the fact that copulating in public is prohibited under City Ordinances, while the coveted four-star rating should be reserved for those businesses making the effort to remind the gentle reader that assaulting St. Charles police officers is strictly forbidden under City Ordinances.
The shopkeepers doing this public service clearly deserve recognition for their self-directed efforts to educate us all on the finer points of civilized society; one can only wonder what the shopkeepers in Geneva will do in response to try to narrow the cultural gap that has been so clearly delineated by the introduction of this new initiative.
In addition to recognizing the shopkeepers, I imagine that there must be at least a few individuals in our City government who deserve a lot of credit for working very hard, for so very long, to foster the atmosphere in our downtown which created the fertile soil where such a high-minded civics campaign as this could take root and grow.
Stay classy, St. Charles; stay classy.
Michael Mak
7:05 pm on Monday, January 14, 2013
I agree, those signs are an Embarrassment to the City and it's citizens.
Steve Rogers
9:28 pm on Monday, January 14, 2013
I read this and think Anthony Trollope said it best - "The satirist who writes nothing but satire should write but little -- or it will seem that his satire springs rather from his own caustic nature than from the sins of the world in which he lives."
Mike Garrity
6:59 pm on Tuesday, January 15, 2013
Just what is it you want, Amundson? You snipe and gripe about everything in St. Charles..in the past you've moaned about any new development, complained about housing that looks different than the beaters in your neighborhood, groused about liquor sales, and claimed any arrest is a sure sign STC has gone to the dogs.
For a "community activist" you sure hate the community you live in.
As anti-stc as you are, I have no idea how you got onto the Housing Commission, I do notice you got on by appointment; you certainly wouldn't make it on your own, as in through an election.
I believe it would be for the good of our city if you were to resign or be removed from the Housing Commission, and replaced with someone who loves this town, and all its businesses and residents.
Brian Doyle
8:50 am on Wednesday, January 16, 2013
You ask a good question, Mike. If only you had stopped at your first sentance!
It is unfortunate that so much of our public discourse today is obsessed with the presumed motivations and integrity of others rather than sincere consideration of arguments. David is absolutely correct that "it is best to settle disagreements in public with words." Yet, too often, we don't use our words to *settle* disagreements but, rather, to *sustain* them.
I trust that David is sincere in his desire for civic improvement. Residents of St. Charles are not exceptional in our need for this. Bad manners are on display every day across the country, from local town hall meetings to online news forums to the halls of Congress. How else would one describe the situation in which Sen. Harry Reid slanders Rep. John Boenhner as a "dictator," prompting the latter to tell the former--not once but twice--to "go f*ck himself." I'd describe it as disgraceful.
If we are going to set civic improvement as a goal, we have to start promoting, practicing, and demanding of each other more compassionate communication. See: http://www.cnvc.org/learn/nvc-foundations
...or as the Good Book says: "Be quick to listen and slow to speak."
David Amundson
10:02 am on Wednesday, January 16, 2013
Amen!
Karl Brubaker
1:26 pm on Wednesday, January 16, 2013
Mike's response was no more vitriolic than David's story. Although I appreciate Dave's volunteering his time and efforts, his continued cynicism replete with thick sarcasm is more than tiring.
He lead the charge to have Davis and Richmond schools combined, changed and divided. Richmond still does not pass AYP and Davis failed in 2011. Davis would have fail 2011 and 2012 if not for the Safe Harbor provision. That whole thing really didn't work out as planned.
Lexington was a good fight but the residents were trodden over by the board's sudden betrayal.
Stating that St. Charles needs to "stay classy" is nothing more than inferring that the town currently is not. A few select individuals that violate the streets when 99% are in bed should not be an indicator of the community as a whole.
I find what is especially classless is going to a child's fall orchestra performance, sitting in the front row in fold out chairs and only clapping when your child is performing. Also, talking with your wife during other performances seemed to redefine "classy" too.
David Amundson
11:40 pm on Wednesday, January 16, 2013
Mr. Brubaker -
First, being that you proved Brian's point in your response, I am completely in the dark if you think the situation in our downtown is a good thing or a bad thing for our town. One of my many concerns is that long-term, it is not a good environment for the other merchants in our downtown, Main St. in particular. If you take the time to talk to any of them (I've spoken to several about this issue across the years), you will probably find that they have given up hope and feel abandoned by our local government; that is a cause for real concern. Instead, we find ourselves in a situation where, of the nine comments here now, only the comment by Michael Mak has actually been in response to what I wrote. Dislike my use of satire in an effort to make a point - fine - but please try to also then add something to the conversation that is actually constructive. Baseless personal attacks and/or going for digs that are nowhere near the point at hand do not do our town any good.
Last, as you seem to assume that arrogance is the reason for my sitting in the folding chairs, it would be good for you to know that those chairs are there for those who are physically unable to sit in the bleachers. Do you think for a minute that I would not prefer to sit in the bleachers with everybody else, where I could actually see and hear my boys perform?
usagi
6:02 am on Thursday, January 17, 2013
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ad_hominem
Karl Brubaker
8:03 am on Thursday, January 17, 2013
The situation down town is bad. I agree. It does not represent the entire St. Charles community. I've given my recommendation and was shot down. I think the drinking hours should be reduced. Nothing good happens after midnight and if you look at the times of incidents you'll see most of them happen well after 1:00 AM. Let people have a meal and a few drinks and shut it down. The late night drink-fest, shot pouring attitude of the bar scene is indeed problematic.
The rest of my statement was factual...... never mind. I wrote a lot more but you'll only get all hurt and pouty.
Carry on Mr. Alonso Quijano.
David Amundson
9:05 am on Thursday, January 17, 2013
Excellent! We are now having an actual conversation, and I am thrilled to find that we are on the same page. You are someone who is engaged in what goes on in this town, and we both care deeply about the morass that has become our downtown; let's do something about it.
Before anybody jumps on me for what they think I'm trying to say, let me be very clear in saying that the problem is not that there are bars in our downtown (I'm totally fine with that) the problem is that there are too many bars in our downtown, and this has lead to a culture of 'drinking tourism' or whatever we want to call it; most of the stuff that happens in our town that reflects so poorly on all of us and degrades the reputation of our town is done by the folks from outside our town who come here for the purpose of getting hammered and acting stupid, because their own towns are smart enough to have not created that kind of environment inside their own jurisdiction. What we currently have is a government endorsed and supported self-inflicted headshot.
The good news is that our elected representatives have (well, at least some of them) have woken up to the fact that they are ultimately responsible for the mess that they created, and are now willing to try to do something to change it. Change needs multiple voices coming from multiple corners to make it happen. Will you join me in working on this issue? I'd love to meet over coffee to discuss.
Brian Doyle
8:15 am on Thursday, January 17, 2013
Was Don Quixote a cynic? I admit that've I've never read Cervantes but I always thought of him as an idealist.