Neither here nor there -
I was surprised and delighted when I received an email the week before last. It was in reply to a recent column in which I described an experience I had while competing in the Targa Newfoundland last September.
As I pointed out in the column, I had a message written in large letters across the hood of the car I was driving.
The message read: Save Our Rural X-Ray Clinics.
When I was preparing for the Targa, I learned the route would pass close to Lewisporte. I wanted to express solidarity with the people who were struggling to convince the Williams government to reverse their decision to close both the Lewisporte x-ray clinic and the one in Flower's Cove on the Northern Peninsula.
In the column I wrote how pleasantly surprised I was that a very large number of people during the five day, 2200 kilometre event took note. I remember particularly sitting in the queue for the starting line in Leading Tickles, when an ambulance driver, waiting alongside, leaned out of his vehicle and gave me a big grin and a thumbs up.
Last week this email arrived:
"Hi Mr. Pickersgill,
After reading your article "Health care for all" in the March 3, 2010 copy of the Pilot I thought you would like a copy of the picture I took just after I gave you the thumbs up for having the message "Save our Rural X-Ray Clinics" on your car.
Thanks,
Todd Potter
Primary Care Paramedic
Lewisporte"
It is difficult to put into words the joy that e-mail gave me.
I had put my feelings on the hood of the car, trying to reach out to rural people, who make up the majority of Targa spectators. The very same people being targetted by the this mistaken government policy. It worked.
Todd Potter's thumbs up showed he agreed with my message. I described the incident in the 14 community newspapers where my column appears. Todd Potter read about it in The Pilot, the paper he reads in Lewisporte, and realized I was talking about him.
"I've got to write to this guy," he told his wife. He did, using the email address I include at the bottom of each column and cartoon I submit for publication.
He didn't just write though. He attached a photo of our car pulling up to the start line at Leading Tickles, my arm sticking out the window waving back to him in acknowledgment.
In this column I am connecting with Todd Potter once again.
These days, a lot is said about interactive communication. It often refers to the latest electronic gizmo a manufacturer is trying to sell you. The pitch often contains the underlying threat, expressed either subtly or not so subtly, that if you don't buy this wizard thingy, you will most certainly fall behind the wave and absolutely fail to keep up with the Joneses.
In the 40 years I have been involved in the media, including television, radio, magazines, international, national and community newspapers, I have never found anything with the ability to connect and thus be truly interactive than what you are holding in your hands right now.
Printed on paper from trees felled nearby, community newspapers speak to and about people you know. You feel you can respond, directly or by writing to an editor. Others may then respond to your response.
That is interactive. No gizmos required. Batteries not included.
The fact that there is a network of these papers in this province at this time is a bonus. At a time when our government is unable to see or hear beyond the overpass, our community newspapers give us the chance to communicate with one another. Through that interaction comes the strength and solidarity we need, to resist unsuitable measures we do not want imposed upon us, while insisting on policies that will ensure we are able to lead worthwhile lives where we choose.
I sent a message to Todd Potter from the hood of my car. He replied with a hand signal.
Once it got into the papers, anyone who cares to, can get involved. Eventually our voices may be heard, even within the overpass.
pickersgill@mac.com
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