There is an old story that goes back to the beginning of the space race.
Legend has it that in the early 1960s, American Space Program scientists realized that pens could not function in the weightless environment of space.
They needed to figure out another way for astronauts to write things down. So the story goes, scientists spent years and millions of taxpayer dollars to develop a pressurized pen that could put ink to paper without gravity.
And what did the Russians do?
They used a pencil.
Like all good stories, there is an element of truth to the tale, but it is nonetheless a myth.
Over the years, the story grew and spread across the internet and was shared in boardrooms across North America. It even came up in the plot of a 2002 episode of the hit television show The West Wing.
And for good reason – the tale of the space pen teaches us a good lesson – a difficult problem can often have a simple solution.
We don’t have to look far to see the truth in this. In White Rock, the city and RCMP detachment have established a fantastic way to keep people safe in their community.
They have set up an “exchange zone” to give people a safe area to complete online transactions, or to transfer children between parents or guardians, Peace Arch News reporter Nick Greenizan reported last week. The area is outside the White Rock RCMP detachment and is marked by a sign.
To me, this is one of those ‘why didn’t we think of this before’ kind of ideas. For years, police have been warning people to be wary of crooks who view online platforms like Craigslist, Kijiji or Facebook as potential gold mines.
This preventative measure will go a long way in keeping people safe.
A new ‘exchange zone’ has been created outside White Rock’s RCMP detachment. (City of White Rock photo)
We need more of this thinking.
Right now, we are inundated with challenges – housing, mental health, addictions, cost of living, public safety, pandemic – you name it, we’re up against it.
Most of these issues we’ve written about in these very pages for decades. In most cases, it seems little has changed. I suggest we start looking for simple solutions.
For example, the B.C. government is preparing to impose a cooling-off period on real estate sales, to give people time to get home inspections and consider their financing before making a deal in a bidding war for scarce homes.
In the overheated market, home inspections are among the first casualties of multiple-bid home sales.
Why not just make home inspections mandatory before a home is even listed? Seems simple, no?
And what about trash? I for one am tired of seeing garbage all around our city.
The City of Surrey has done some creative things to help but you can’t force someone to show pride in their community.
So let’s do something different.
Let’s fine the bejesus out of people who show no pride in where they live.
Catch someone dumping their trash or littering? Forget the minimum fine of $500. No more minimal penalties. Increase the maximum fine from $10,000 – heck, make it $50,000 – and give them the maximum every time. No exceptions. Then give the money to a local streamkeepers group or something. Then make the slobs clean up trash in their community.
Look, I know it’s easy for a journalist like me to sit at my keyboard and try to solve all the world’s problems. I don’t have all the answers. But I do know that we have to start looking at some of these challenges with fresh eyes.
After all, the story of the space pen taught us a valuable lesson.
Keep it simple, stupid.
Beau Simpson is editor of the Now-Leader. He can be reached at beau.simpson@surreynowleader.com.
beau.simpson@surreynowleader.com
Like us on Facebook Follow us on Instagram and follow us on Twitter