A few years back someone started a new custom to signal " eternal love ". Couples had padlocks engraved with their names and a declaration of love - and fixed them to the safety railings at local beauty spots. It was usual to ceremoniously throw the keys into the void as a declaration that the union would survive to eternity. In Wollongong, the Mount Keira lookout and the Sea Cliff bridge are favourite locations for this custom.
It certainly did not find favour with Wollongong council. Without notice or warning council send a work gang with boltcutters to remove these padlocks from Mount Keira lookout. There was understandable dismay, and council has now apologised and invited owners to call at a council depot and reclaim their property.
It raises the question of what harm did this custom do that council should close it down. Mount Keira lookout and Sea Cliff bridge are both popular tourist destinations and many people thought these expressions of love were charming. Photographs were taken - not only of the view - but of the wire fencing and the padlocks and this custom is likely to spread as the example becomes widely viewed.
It seems just one example of the " Scrooge " mentality that pervades the official mind. Perhaps anything that people enjoy offends the " fun police ", or it could be resentment that people are getting away with a joy that has escaped their ever reaching tax net.
The nay-sayers and finger waggers are ever encroaching on past customs. Once it was unthinkable to attend a wedding without sprinkling confetti on the bride and groom when they emerged from the church. Today, most churches forbid the practice and they do have a point. We live in an age of pollution and someone has to clean up those tiny portions of paper, but many responded by substituting rice for confetti - and now many churches ban that too. Surely this custom does no harm - and the cleanup is carried out with speed and enthusiasm by the sparrows, pigeons and other birds that call all public spaces home.
It is not only officialdom that has a cold heart and a closed mind when it comes to matters that give people pleasure. We recently had the issue of a resident making an official complaint to council because kids had built a cubby house in a tree. Of course, it didn't have building approval and the council over reacted by threatening a million dollar fine - but an inspection revealed dozens of similar " illegal constructions " throughout the wooded area, all built by local kids.
Whatever happened to that motto that solved most problems ? It was called - Live and let live !
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