02 January 2012

Middle Class Rebellion


London's Victoria Park has been undergoing some fairly substantial renovations the past year. This includes redoing the playground in the northeast corner of the west half of the park. Progress on this seemed slow, but it looked like it should have been in a position to open by June or July. Yet it didn't open. It sat there with new equipment, fenced off, all summer long. And into the fall. Shockingly poor planning. They were continuing other work in the park and couldn't be arsed to segregate the playground well enough to allow it to be opened for the summer. Finally by November the good citizenry had had enough and stormed the barricades. It was a wonderful moment of civil disobedience -- a pleasant autumn weekend with kids cavorting around the new playground, playing on the nice new bridges and swings and generally having a good time. Power to the playground!