Every once in a while a comment comes in that surprises me. This one was short and sweet and seemed a perfect way to begin the season of lights.
Gregg Dal Ponte works for the Oregon Trucking Association (an advocacy and lobbying group for truckers and freight businesses). I’m always happy to see him post on BikePortland not only because it shows that we are succeeding somewhat at not being a groupthink bubble, but also because I like reading what he says.
Gregg spent the long weekend in a “take-on-all-comers” situation in the comments section of our post about missing Naito bollards. He was holding his own just fine, but then something must have happened on Sunday, because after reflecting for a few hours, his thoughts became more introspective.
Then he posted this gem:
A final thought …. I told myself I wouldn’t do it again and in this very thread my sarcasm is on display. So, my apologies to everyone on this forum. The truth is I struggle with some of the thoughts expressed here. Going forward I am going to try very hard to draw my inspiration from something said by a friend of mine:
“A place to start: Cut the trash talk. Stifle the snide remarks. Don’t sugarcoat Oregon’s shortcomings but aggressively attack the state’s problems, not its policymakers. Develop workable solutions, regardless of whose idea they are, by finding common ground.” (Dick Hughes)
That’s a tall order. If I slip up feel free to call me on it.
Gregg quotes from a Thanksgiving piece Dick Hughes wrote in the weekly newsletter, Capital Chatter. Most of us could benefit from taking that advice to heart — dropping the gotchas, and working on being able to disagree with someone without vilifying them.
Thank you for commenting, Gregg, and for sharing these good thoughts.