It may still be two months to Christmas but already householders are answering knocks at their door to find someone asking for a contribution to this or that charitable cause. The Maltese are known for their hospitality, but surely there is a limit to everything. In these hard times, charitable organisations should be a bit more creative and organise fund-raising activities. Those contributing would then be doing so freely, not because they are made to feel embarrassed by someone begging at their doorstep.
The government has put the environment as one of its top priorities, and rightly so too. If this is really the case, ways should be found to stop the waste of paper through the many leaflets that are deposited in letter boxes each and every day. Most of them end up being dumped in the bins without as much as a glance. If there was some kind of tax on such leaflets then those printing them would perhaps be more cautious.
Ironically, one of the many leaflets that was deposited in letter boxes last week came from an environment group, the Friends of the Earth. These people often complain that the environment is not well taken care of, and then they go print hundreds, if not thousands, of leaflets and waste so much paper – considering that most people do not read such leaflets. Would it not have been better to send emails?
At Mater Dei Hospital, two machines where people can pay for their parking slot were not functioning last Tuesday. This meant that there were long queues for the other machines that were working or at the office of the car park operators. It would be interesting also to know why there is no machine at the minus three level. A sign as one enters the building says that there is one, but this sign has now been covered up.
Other machines are not functioning well at Mater Dei – and these are the Melita Cable machines that allow patients to buy cards to watch television or use the phone next to their bed. There are machines that only take coins, there are others which are out of order for days, and this is rather frustrating for patients who have to walk to the next machine, often finding it not functioning as well. The Melita Cable desk at reception is not always manned either.
Some young children have the habit of pressing the button at pelican lights crossings, stopping the traffic flow when there are no pedestrians wanting to cross the road. Parents should educate their children not to do such a thing, rather than smile and continue walking as if nothing had happened. It is only through education that children learn how to behave in society.
The street lights in the road leading to and from the Malta International Airport last Friday evening were not on, leaving the stretch in total darkness. This was the last impression tourists who were leaving the island had last Friday, and the first impression for those who arrived. Surely, such an important junction should be kept in ship-shape condition.
People making use of lifts should understand that if they want to go up, they should press the up button, and if they want to go down, they should press the down button. Many seem to think that if the lift is on the third floor and they are on the ground floor, they are to press the down button. Wrong. If they are on the ground floor and want to go up, they should still press the up button even if the lift, at that point, is on the third floor.