Soap Box

Deep in the middle of last week’s article on staffing shortages in Durango was what I think is the answer to your question on where did all the workers go.

“(Joe) Lloyd said throughout Durango Joe’s five locations in New Mexico – where housing prices and rent are far lower – staffing is not an issue.”

Maybe some have gone to Indiana, too. ;-)

I’ve lived in places where this has happened, especially in California beach towns. If you can’t afford to live in a certain town, you move to some place less expensive, simple as that. After all, we can’t all afford to buy Porsches, so some of us buy used Toyotas and Hondas.

And good luck going from a job as a barista to a white collar job. Why not just become a CEO and make billions?

I’ve only recently moved to Durango, and while I like it and can afford it, I am worried about the future here. I have found through experience that once most of the infrastructure people leave, the town is just not the same. I’m not sure if I want to live in a town composed of mostly older retirees exhibiting rampant Karenism. The working 30- and 40-something crowd is an essential part of every community.

I’ve met people in town that have moved to Bayfield and other outlying areas. My hunch is that many have left town or perhaps moved in with parents until they can figure out what to do next.

It’s not surprising to see so many standing at intersections holding signs for donations. I’m not sure what kind of income these people make, but it is tax-free and you don’t have to answer to some pushy boss.

I don’t think you’ll hear much from the mystery people (workers who left town), as people love to tell you about the “if you can make it here, you can make it anywhere” stories. But not so much the leaveand-drag-your-tail-between-your-legs-and-l ive-someplace-less-desirable ones. – Eric Orton, Durango

Feeling the pinch

Editor’s note: The following is a response to last week’s article on staffing shortages asking people who have moved to reach out and tell us where they landed.

I’m one of the former Durango blue collar folks who has moved on. After more than 40 years of contributions to the culture and economy of Durango, I’m out. How many talented and engaged community members have been squeezed out by deep-pocketed newcomers? It sucks.

Market realities determine who can and who can’t live in Durango. I can’t, even though I may have been a familiar face around Durango for years. Affordable housing advocates have been spewing empty words in the local media for decades now without resolution. I have arrived at my answer: Reluctantly… leave, and start over in Aztec.

– Bob Gregorio, Aztec

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You might have checked the news recently and seen U.S. Rep. Lauren Boebert’s bogus claims that “they are putting litter boxes in schools for people who identify as cats” and thought to yourself, you gotta be kitten me! But before you start getting too upset about the state of American democracy, let me propose an idea: Boebert and her fellow conspiracy theorist lunatics are secretly geniuses.

Wait, wait! Hear me out! These unhinged people have presented us with the perfect loophole to escape the claws of conservative extremism: become a cat.

Cats aren’t shackled to rules and laws and elections that result in your very own body becoming regulated by QAnon disciples. Hell, cats don’t even abide by the laws of physics. Have you ever tried to tell a cat what to do? Good luck with that.

Perhaps you’re wondering how I intend to become a cat, aside from just using a litter box in public schools, of course. You might even be thinking of ways to steal it for your own personal benefit.

The answer is simple. It all starts with getting one of those fur suits Boebert’s all up in literal arms over. But I’m not talking about the cutesy fur suits that will make me look like I’ve leapt out of an anime. I’m talking ultra-realistic, borderline disturbing fur suits; I’m talking Taylor-Swiftin-Cats-the-Movie-level fur suit.

Phase Two: I start training to run on all fours like that one guy on TikTok. After mastering this skill, I’ll prowl gently and pitifully up to the back door of some unsuspecting schmuck who is OK with being dominated by a nine-pound animal, pretending that I’m a scraggly yet loveable stray just looking for my furever home. Perhaps I could be blessed with a new, unique name like Tigger? Figaro? Tom?

What’s Phase Three, you ask? Well, from here on out, I settle into my new life, free to come and go as I please, because stray cats like me have more autonomy than you weak, pathetic humans. Especially the ones who can get pregnant.

In fact, last week, I did a little Googling while I still had opposable thumbs. Did you know that abortion is now completely banned in at least 13 states? But do you also know where cats can legally get abortions in the U.S.? That’s right – all 50 states, baby.

If I got pregnant from “unwanted mating” or simply didn’t want to have eight babies at once (humans have it so easy, except for Octomom – she gets it), I could have an abortion. No problemo. Just shove a pill into a gelatinous pile of Friskies, and tell Boebert to stop being such a sourpuss.

Sure, this sounds like a lot of hassle, and the reality that Boebert still has a lead in the polls over her Democratic running mate is making me want to puke up a hairball, but trust me. It’ll all be worth it in the end. Just think of the taxpayerfunded kitty litter AND boxes.

So, my fellow Coloradans, during a time when we’re all having difficulty identifying with the Broncos, make the better choice. Identify as a cat. And be sure to check out my profile on Petfinder! – Addyson Santese, Durango

You now have a golden opportunity. Please consider taking advantage of this gift. The city-owned property on the corner of Camino del Rio and College Drive that is now leased to the Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad for parking can either solve the city’s biggest problem or make things much worse.

If you choose to develop a multi-level parking garage on that site, this town will benefit immediately. The railroad could continue to have parking space, and the city would gain the long-needed parking facility that alleviates the drastic shortage of parking in town.

If you choose to sell this parcel to a real estate developer for another retail, hotel or business development, the railroad loses parking (tourists will have to park somewhere else), traffic will increase in that already congested area and the city will continue to suffer with nowhere for anyone – local or tourist – to park.

Please take this gift, and use it to benefit everyone that lives, works or visits Durango. Being a downtown resident, I implore you to make the correct decision. – Michael Peterson, Durango

Power of the ballot box

Every election cycle we hear that democracy is under threat. This year, it’s really true. The GOP is trying to promote a dangerous fundamental change in our country. We need only to look at what’s been happening in GOP states:

• Criminalization of women’s right to control their own bodies, and Big Brother efforts to enforce that criminalization. The collateral damage is women’s lives at risk. • People working minimum wage at $7.25/hr., far below what’s needed for economic survival and the rate in other states. • The most minimal social safety nets for people at the bottom, and not surprisingly, the highest rates of poverty and people with no form of health insurance. • Efforts to ban books from schools and community libraries. Some people don’t like certain ideas, and they don’t want anyone else to have access to those ideas either. • Vague laws proscribing what teachers and students can discuss in public school classrooms, such as honest American history, racism or LGBTQ issues. • Voter suppression measures enacted in GOP states in the bogus guise of protecting election integrity. One of the classic ways of rigging elections is political gerrymandering. Both parties do it, but the GOP has raised it to a fine art. They could take over the House this fall just with gerrymandering, never mind what voters want. • Then there are the efforts to overturn results of the 2020 presidential election. This fall, the GOP is running candidates in several states who pledge to overturn results where voters prefer the non-GOP candidate. What they’re saying is that elections will only count when they win.

Anyone who supports democracy should vote for Democrats in November. Boycott the GOP. – Carole McWilliams, Bayfield