You may remember a page long ago about "Water Fountains" in which I presumed that the reason for recent neglect of both park and street water fountains was a lonely struggle to mend Seattle's reputation as a town soft on water addiction.
Well, today for the second time recently I passed a fountain at 1st and Pike (downtown, not "NE") that wasn't and isn't running. This time I could take pictures, from which you'll see, dear Diary, that this is a typical street fountain.
Now, 1st and Pike is one of the city of Seattle's front doors, a place tourists flock to. I'm concerned that they may draw the wrong message from the non-functional water fountain. They may have heard of how Seattle coddles addicts of all kinds, even such lowlifes as water addicts. They probably have not heard of our present mayor's attempts to fight the scourge of water addiction. As far as I know she hasn't announced this initiative, and I seem to remain the only journalist to report on it.
So I suspect tourists who encounter this fountain will think "How incompetent!" instead of seeing it as the glorious blow it really is in the struggle against the water barons.
Mayor Durkan, it isn't enough to walk the walk; if you don't talk the talk too, you'll just confuse people. Own your proudest accomplishment, your reversal of decades of "Seattle Nice" toward those who facilitate innocent children getting hooked on water. Construct a context for that water fountain, declaring it the first blow in a new War on Drugs. A grateful nation, weary of the gang warfare over water rights and the desperation of the waterless, will acclaim you as a leader for our time.
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