"or 88," said Captain Patenaude of the Northampton Police to me this morning. Responding to rumors fed by a story in the Hampshire Gazette, I called him to ask if the second instance of graffiti they reported was outside the Mayor's campaign office at Old School Commons. He told me that the graffiti was on the glass wall outside the offices of Northampton Physical Associates, which does nothing more controversial than helping people work out. Lida is a major donor to the Higgins campaign, and wondered if the graffiti and the disappearance of her Higgins sign could be related. "Does it stop at annoying, or is there more to come?" she was quoted as saying.
In some people's minds, the Steve Susco incident at City Council, the graffiti and the missing lawn signs are seen as frightening signs of the fraying of civility in our community. And God knows there are good reasons for fears in this regard, particularly on the national scene. Is there some kind of link between skinheads (Bardsley being bald) and Bardsley's campaign? I would tend to doubt it. And Susco has never been an organization man. He was raising hell about city government when I was city councilor nearly twenty years ago. And it is my experience that every year we have elections, someone's political signs get pulled down. They are great targets of opportunity for fun-loving late night adventurers. So we should take a deep breath and calm down.
3 comments:
as a friend of mine just educated me: 88 in amateur radio lingo means hugs and kisses.
the linking of bardsley with skinheads was a joke made by another bald person. it was meant to be absurd, because it IS absurd.
I hoped that would be a laugh line
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