Rant & Rave: Pike Place Market brings back memories

RAVE to the fish guy at Pike Place Market who helped this senior citizen catch a salmon. It was a tradition in my father’s native country of Finland, and it brought back so many good memories of “slippery fish downstream” as we used to say. You’ve made an old man happy once more. Ahoy!

RANT to the group of photographers at the Seattle Japanese Garden recently. Stop taking up every inch of the koi bridge with your bodies and your gear! Other people would like to use the pathways too. Stop shooing people out of “your shot” from 100 yards away. Get a grip, this is a public garden, and your use of it is neither more important nor more worthy than the guy taking a time-lapse of the scene with his phone. Your entitlement and disregard for others was gross.

RAVE to our kind, young neighbors who shared some of their Halloween candy with my son. Halloween was our family’s last day of quarantine after coming down with COVID-19, and we were sad to have to skip trick-or-treating and other festivities. Their act of thoughtfulness tells me there’s some stellar parenting happening over there. Thank you!

RANT to my fellow seniors who would rather gripe about tech than learn it. All four of my grandparents were born in the 1890s and saw the world go from horse and buggy to a man on the moon in their lifetimes. They all learned to drive cars, use phones and keep up with all kinds of new stuff because that is how progress works. Adapt or be left behind, folks.

RAVE to the holiday party invitations beginning to flow as we exit the pandemic. It will be great to celebrate with friends and family once again. Please RSVP in a timely manner. Your host needs an accurate head count to order a turkey, haul chairs up from the basement, polish the silver, rinse the wineglasses and buy the groceries. Brush up your manners and reply within a few days, and be sure to thank your host, either way.

RAVE to free transit for students 18 years and younger! Instead of walking a mile to/from school, my middle schooler can now hop on a Metro bus. Thank you!

RANT to Seattle Parks and Recreation. How long does it take to replace a burned-out light bulb in a women’s restroom at the Bitter Lake Community Center? Two weeks and counting! (Yes, it was reported two weeks ago and again one week ago.) This is a safety hazard that could easily be remedied.

RAVE to the individual who found my daughter’s wallet in downtown Kirkland and left it in our mailbox, all items accounted for. Thank you!

RAVE to Nov. 9. That wonderful day brought an end to the nonstop barrage of negative political ads on TV! The only message I was getting from every candidate is I am doomed if I voted for their opponent.