Benches to sit on

In European city parks, some of which are hundreds of years old, you'll find rows of long benches on which to sit, relax, read a book, chat, observe, feed the pigeons. Not so in the land of the free and busy. The large shoreline park in my town was built on a former garbage dump (some of my own refuse is buried there, I have to say proudly! If I could only dig up my old transistor radio from there. They don't make them like they used to), and consists of three medium size hills. overgrown with weeds, a few maintained lawns, paved paths and unpaved trails. A mile long path circles around the outside edge of the park, and many people go there to walk, run, ride rollerblades, bicycles, walk their dogs. There are maybe half a dozen short, three person benches on that path and, if memory serves right, no more than three others on the paths leading into and between the hills.

The park near my house, covering one city block, and built on top of a subway tunnel, has a large lawn in the center, and three pairs of short benches on the outside, along pedestrian and bicycle paths leading to the nearby train station. The lawn is large, maintained and available to players of various sports such as volleyball, frisbee or football. Twice a year an area amateur theater group sets up a stage for performances of self-written musical agitprop plays about Bushitler and the evil capitalists of Haliburton Corporation, all for the enjoyment of the local sophisticates. The audience sits on the lawn.

Many of the few benches in city parks and tennis courts here have brass plaques on them stating that this bench was funded in memory of such and such person. Apparently, it is a popular way to memorialize some family member who has passed away, a person not necessarily famous or known or particularly accomplished in the big wide world. One donor said that she is comforted when she sees people relaxing on the bench bearing the name of her late husband. Fair enough.

Now the City Council is considering strictly limiting the number of memorial benches, which the city parks commission says destroy the "visual character" of the city's "parkland and urban forest". Urban forest? Oh, OK.

The Deputy City Manager says, "Do we want plaques and memorials strewn over our public parks? A lot of people are offended by it - they feel that the reminders of other people's family and friends diminishes the feeling of freedom and peace you're supposed to have in a public park."

According to the new rules "the honorees must have been dead for at least a year, their contributions to the city and its parks must be well documented, and the city's Parks and Recreation Commission must approve the nomination." Plus, it will cost $1200 for materials and installation.

All in the land of freedom from memory, and peace from concerns about others.