We’re begging you! Top 9 things you’re being asked to do this summer, Idaho
You may have noticed these past couple of weeks that you’re being asked to do the right thing. Health officials, Idaho State Police, water officials, Idaho Power and land managers are asking you — no, begging you — to please just do the right thing.
So here’s a list of the Top 9 things you’re being begged to do, making you a good, upstanding, honorable Idaho resident who cares about everyone around you this summer:
Please get the COVID-19 vaccine. We’re begging you. We all want to go back to normal, go to bars and restaurants, the movies, keep going into stores without a mask. We want to send our children back to school safely. The delta variant of the novel coronavirus is making the rounds, increasing cases of COVID-19, increasing hospitalizations and filling emergency rooms, which affects everyone, whether they have COVID-19 or not.
Use water wisely. Cities and irrigation districts are begging you: Water your lawn every other day — on odd days if your address is an odd number, on even days if your address is an even number. Idaho, along with the rest of the West, has found itself in a drought, and wise water use becomes more important.
Use electricity wisely. Idaho Power is begging you: Turn up the thermostat just a couple of degrees, wash your clothes and your dishes either overnight or early in the morning, when electricity use is lower.
Please don’t start wildfires! The Forest Service and land managers are begging you. Humans are the No. 1 cause of wildfires. Check your RV and trailer for dragging chains, don’t set off fireworks, don’t shoot exploding targets, and don’t build campfires when they’re not allowed. If you do build a campfire, make sure it’s never unattended, and when you put it out, put it out cold, so that you can touch it with your bare hands.
Please mind your dog. Keep your dog on a leash. Pick up your dog’s poop. Please keep your pets out of Quinn’s Pond and the Esther Simplot Park ponds. Recent tests showed elevated levels of E. coli at the ponds. In the past, dogs have been found to be the culprit, and the city had to ban them from the water. So before it comes to that, do the right thing.
Behave in the backcountry. Don’t leave toilet paper in the wilderness. Don’t set your toilet paper on fire (see No. 4). Don’t feed wild animals. Don’t take selfies with wild animals. And clean up after yourself. An Idaho woman recently was fined $5,800 for leaving a messy campsite at Grand Teton National Park, and her garbage attracted a grizzly bear.
Please wear a seat belt. We really do hate to report on traffic fatalities. They are extra painful when young people are involved. And when someone isn’t wearing a seat belt. Seat belts save lives. Traffic crashes, unfortunately, are all too common, but wearing a seat belt can be the difference between a trip to the hospital and a trip to the morgue.
Please don’t drive aggressively. While we’re begging you to wear a seat belt to save your life in a vehicle crash, we’re begging you to do everything possible to avoid a crash to begin with. Don’t tailgate, don’t speed. Don’t ignore traffic signals. Don’t weave in and out of traffic, or make improper or abrupt lane changes. Don’t pass on the shoulder..
Please don’t drink and drive. We’re begging you. Summertime is time for picnics and cookouts, a day at the beach, floating the river and taking the boat out on the water. These activities often are accompanied by drinking alcohol. There are no excuses in this day and age for drinking and driving. Don’t become a statistic — or even worse, cause someone else to become a statistic.
It’s sad that we have to beg, but if everyone could do the right thing, we wouldn’t even have to ask, let alone beg.
Scott McIntosh is the opinion editor of the Idaho Statesman. You can email him at smcintosh@idahostatesman.com or call him at 208-377-6202. Follow him on Twitter @ScottMcIntosh12.
