Letter: When teddy bears meet power lines

Graphic by Lori Deaton

To the “people” who think it is fun to adorn our downtown power lines with stuffed animals:

On Tuesday, Jan. 17, I arrived at work, on time, to the popular downtown café that employs me to be greeted by the generous owner, who informed me that we would not be opening for business that day.

The reason? Someone had tied some teddy bears together and adeptly tossed them over the power lines in front of the café, shorting out the power system and leaving half of the block without electricity. Not only depriving all of the eager hourly employees without pay for that day but costing the owners a day of income, leaving the patrons of our establishment without choice but to go elsewhere and no doubt costing the city untold thousands of dollars to remedy the matter.

I have observed this behavior in West Asheville as well. The same type of “people” think that it is fun to paint babydolls red and similarly decorate the power lines. To what end? I haven’t the foggiest clue.

So to you, I say: Thank you for your bold efforts to contribute nothing to our esteemed community. Please go back to kindergarten and learn respect for others. Thank you.

— John Harte
Asheville

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