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| Roadside memorials deserve our respect Published/Last Modified on Wednesday, November 10, 2004 2:57 PM PST Roadside memorials, as was pointed out in a recent Review article (Sept. 22), are more and more numerous throughout the country. The Coastside is no exception. The government officials objections to these remembrances is at the very least puzzling and more than hints at the control government at every level seeks to impose on every aspect of our lives. Some at Half Moon Bay City Hall seem to think the memorials are eyesores, distractions and even ersatz gang signs. Eyesore? Surely not more than the signs for every event, politician or garage sale that litter every road, empty field, doorway and driveway on the Coastside. Distractions? OK. But what about those who drive while putting on makeup, shaving, combing hair, talking on the phone, eating, talking and looking at all the aforementioned signs? Gang signs - well maybe. Not being in that crowd I cannot speak to that but I think it's stretching. The truth is these memorials are doing no harm and they have a long illustrious history. Roadside memorials go all the way back to ancient Greece. They were then homage to Hermes as he was the protector of travels and of highways. Later there would be roadside memorials to the Virgin Mary performing much the same function. Memorials of one sort of another have persisted down through the centuries and it is only now that they are seen to be some sort of hazard or blot on the landscape. Surely these officials have more important concerns than these less than ubiquitous memorials. They should serve as important reminders that highways are dangerous places and care should be taken. Instead these same officials might concentrate on the dangerous driving habits of individuals, i.e., drunks, teens who have not absorbed the fundamentals of good driving, older drivers who are so self-absorbed they pay scant attention to what is going on around them, senior drivers who have become so cautious that they constitute a moving hazard and the truly dangerous - those who feel the rules aren't for them. Let us instead, honor these as the outward signs of deep grief. They are testimony of the importance to the families and friends of those killed. Kathryn Murdock is an El Granada resident. |