Have you ever had a weekend when you have so much to do that every movement is planned in detail? I had one of those recently.
My route was carefully mapped with timings placed alongside each task. Every item was based on military precision. I knew where I would be and what needed to be done each and every moment of the day.
This type of diligence does not usually occur on the weekend. I just had way too much to do and I knew that I could accomplish 90 per cent with the goal of reaching the target of getting everything done with ease — as long as it was well planned.
I opened the curtains bright and early on Saturday morning and the sun was shining, which was an unexpected sight that made me smile. But, when I opened the curtains in a room that faces the beautiful tree-lined street, my heart skipped a beat when I saw that my neighbour's garage doors had been tagged. What were the odds that if spray painted graffiti was there that my garage doors had also been defaced?
Yep. I was right. Same scrawled script. Same colour. My run sheet for the day went out the window since Mitre 10 was not on my list and taking time out to deal with this was frustrating at the very least. I called the Police and Whanganui District Council enroute to find a solution to remove the paint. The Police were efficient while the Council provided absolutely no help, direction or empathy.
I was angry about the intrusion on my space, time and wallet. And I had to make two trips to Mitre 10 since the graffiti cleaner that I initially used did not work. I then tried scraping the paint off and that didn't work either.
Then, I saw my neighbour using something that was taking the paint off while not damaging the garage doors. I ran over to learn what it was. Paint thinner!
Armed with this solution, I set to work on removing the graffiti. I was still angry, but then a sense of wonder came over my thoughts. What kind of home does the perpetrator live in? Do their parents know and do they care? I profiled the person responsible for upsetting my day — they were short since the paint did not reach the top of the garage doors, so perhaps a student as we are nearby several colleges.
If it was a student, they were not very clever tagging on a Friday night especially if they wanted other students to see where they had been with an entire weekend to remove the tagging.
Uneducated without an ounce of creativity since the scrawl on my doors was the same across the street. A male teenager. Not entirely sure why I think a young man did this instead of a silly young girl, but I do.
Still removing the tagging, my mind wandered again. What would I do if I caught the culprit? I would only ask one or two questions starting with why did you do this and what were you hoping to achieve? I would then describe my feelings and how this selfish act caused me grief.
I enjoy living in Whanganui but wonder where is the sense of community that allows this type of behaviour to occur? Where is the sense of purpose for young people and opportunities for them to stay in Wanganui? Why would someone spray paint scribbles on a couple of garage doors late one Friday night to have it removed quickly the next day? This just doesn't make sense to me.
