Stop Complaining

Okay people of Pasadena focus all of your attention on the good things that the Rose Parade does for us. The local pride, the publicity, the history, the sense of community, the awesome beauty of this popup event focused on floats covered with flowers. And don’t forget the schadenfreude we feel when people in Chicago see our weather on January 1. Stop all complaining about the Rose Parade. Don’t complain about the congestion, the parking, the noise, the inconvenience or the cost.

Don’t complain because we don’t want the Rose Parade to become the the Barnes Foundation. The Barnes Foundation was a quirky Museum built in Merion an ordinary suburb of Philadelphia. It was in an awkward spot and the neighbors complained about parking, congestion, noise etc. The complaints started a movement to move the museum to downtown Philadelphia. And now that the bulk of the Barnes Foundation is gone the neighborhood where it was is no longer special and I suspect that the neighbors are complaining about the loss.

Walking to the parade

Complaints are negative. Negative comments are ten times more powerful than positive comments. So if you complain about the Rose Parade I will have to say ten positive things about it just to offset your negativity. Fortunately this is not difficult. Because the Rose Parade is a nearly perfect civic event.

International

The Rose Parade is the Wonder of Pasadena. Don’t complain or we could lose it like just like Merion lost The Barnes Foundation. Politicians think that if people complain they have to do something. The something they do may solve your complaint but it may not make thing better in aggregate. Beware of what you wish for.