The $60 million fuck-up

Why did they even call it a library? It’s 80 percent drop-in centre. It takes concentration to do research, but when the person next to you is hammering away at the keys on their laptops, as if they are insanely angry at the document they’re editing or stealing… so you move and then two desks away someone sets up their laptop and unload their lunch: Soup and biscuit. They slurp the soup like an ill-mannered hillbilly! Always bring you earbuds and music. When I win the lottery, i’m going to pay an architect to design a sensible  library. It will be the same size as the central library, but no wasted empty space at the core. How much less would that cost? The floors would be isolated from one another, I don’t want to hear the baby whining in the lobby. No computer access for video games or watching music videos, an easy IT block. The computers would be in a row by row format in a separate room. No homeless person sitting in the lobby with 30 bags of stuff. (How about using the old library for a homeless drop-in centre?) Like most major projects in Hellifuct, it’s the witless city planner that gets screwed over by the politicians. A politician with an architect friend that wants to make a name for themselves. The Central Library is an enduring monument to everything that’s wrong with Hellifuct. By the way, can anyone tell me the source of funds for all the construction going on? I’ve been here 40 years and there’s been nothing like it!  How do we prevent money laundering in this town? —Living With Higher Expectations

This article appears in Oct 12-18, 2017.