With about a month until we enter the holiday season in full swing, I’ve started noticing things.
I mean, there are 11 worldwide holiday moments celebrated in December and I’m not even including November’s Thanksgiving in my assessment either!
Now, what I’m noticing aren’t exactly huge things, but they’re big enough issues that I can readily see them at a glance.
Most of all, I’ve seen how the general population yo-yos between festive feelings and being worthy of Santa’s fabled “Naughty List.”
For me, the worst one is when someone is inconsiderate on purpose.
I understand that sometimes things happen on accident, but with more careful planning, I think some incidents can be readily avoided.
Take for example last weekend’s Veterans Parade that follows the same route as October’s Rice Festival parade.
That means it starts at the Bay City USO Service Center then travels down 7th St. all the way to the Matagorda County Courthouse before making it around the square to Avenue F and finally taking 6th St. for its last leg.
And you might be wondering what my issue is with such a route is – it starts and ends in residential areas.
Is it awesome to see our community come out and support local events – yes!
But, I know several folks that live in and around those neighbor
hoods that aren’t exactly morning birds for Saturday parades.
Plus, of those folks, I also know that some struggle with Posttraumatic Stress Disorder – aka PTSD.
PTSD is a psychiatric disorder that may occur in people who have experienced or witnessed a traumatic event, series of events or set of circumstances.
Someone may experience this as emotionally or physically harmful or life-threatening and may affect mental, physical, social, and/or spiritual well-being.
A few examples of PTSD include natural disasters, serious accidents, terrorist acts, war/combat, rape/sexual assault, historical trauma, intimate partner violence and bullying.
It’s estimated that one in 11 people may experience PTSD in their lifetime and that’s only the folks that get officially diagnosed.
Last Saturday’s event kicked off with several cannon-like blasts that were heard clearly on the courthouse sidewalk and beyond.
I take issue with those most of all because they were not only inconsiderate of residents in the area, but could have been triggering for some veterans, too.
And I’m not even going to touch on the possible issues such loud noises have on spectators and animals.
While I know that the blasts weren’t intended to be harmful or triggering, I still think that more consideration for the event is needed in the future.
If event organizers want to continue the loud noises, I hope they plan better in the future.
Maybe notifying veterans and residents in the area ahead of the parade will help everyone be better prepared.
Again, I don’t think the event organizers were aiming to cause any problems, but perhaps some careful thought about the impact celebrations can have on others can circumvent future issues.
We can all do our part to make living in Matagorda County more considerate for others and the upcoming holiday season is a great time to practice that!
