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Page 4A - Pike County Journal Reporter - Wednesday, November 3, 2021 Opinions River access should be open to all Pike citizens BY RACHEL MCDANIEL news@pikecountygeorgia.com Over the past several years, I’ve become what many would call a ‘river rat.’ The Flint River is - of course - my favorite place to float, listening to the dripping water from my paddle, feeling the sun on my skin and watching wildlife in their own world as we float downstream. I’ve seen birds of prey with fish in their talons, fish jump ing from the water and heard the most beautiful orchestras of frogs and crickets. A good friend of mine - Alison Stephens - opened me up to this amazing new world and my lov ing husband gifted me a kayak for Mother’s Day one year (he would prob ably never have guessed that I’d use it so much!) In about a year and a half, we have traveled 81 miles of the Flint River - from Fayette County to Taylor County. Access to different parts of the river can be challenging and we even spent the night on the river once (with permission from a property owner of course), sleeping in ham mocks and not leaving anything but footprints behind. From our experience, some of the most beauti ful areas of the river are through Pike and Upson counties and - while access was a bit more difficult - the desolate ar eas of Talbot and Taylor counties are breathtaking as well. Unfortunately, Pike County’s only public access was blocked last week by a huge load of rocks right by the river’s edge and a giant ‘drive way’ complete with cul vert right across where we have taken our kayaks so many times. 1 understand the local home owner’s view point. Some people are pigs and don’t care about littering or causing damage to other people’s proper ties. However, for each one person like that, I’d wager that there are sev eral more who love the solitude of the river and find peace there floating downstream that can’t be found elsewhere. Many of us pick up after oth ers and 1 couldn’t count the old rusty cans from decades ago (based on their appearance) that we’ve picked up out of the river over the years. The Flat Shoals access is especially important to us since the Joe Kurz Wildlife Managament Area is several miles upstream and makes for a perfect four to six hour float. We have taken our girls down the river as well and they have their own kayaks where they are the captain and make their own deci sions about the routes to take. 1 hope they enjoyed those hours on the river as much as we did. The shortest trip in Pike was from the Highway 362 bridge to Flat Shaols and it was the perfect trip for a begin ning kayaker who may be tired and sunburned before traveling the other local routes of the Flint. Unfortunately, ac cess to the Highway 362 bridge was closed earlier this year as a large fence and gate was built near the river’s edge. It breaks my heart that Flat Shoals is now off limits as well - meaning there is nowhere at all in Pike County where I can put in or take out my kayak. If we put in at Joe Kurz WMA (outside of Gay, GA), we would have to travel all the way to the Upson County side of Highway 109 to get our kayaks out of the water and onto a truck to take back home. While that particu lar area is not the best, Upson County has many very nice boat ramps that are open to the public in addition to the outfitter on Highway 36. In fact, at one of Upson County’s public access areas, there is a super long elevated boat ramp to make it easy to drag kayaks and other small watercraft to the river. They even have stairs down into the water and plenty of parking for visitors who enjoy nature and time on the river. Pike County should absolutely have at least one access area where all citizens can get to the river and enjoy God’s beautiful world of nature. I would even volunteer - and 1 know others would as well - to keep the area clean and tidy. While our kids aren’t quite the river rats we are, 1 certainly pray that many years from now - when they have kids of their own - they will have access to travel the same stretch of the river that they traveled with their own moms when they were kids themselves. Please contact your commissioner about making river access a right for Pike citizens. Nice people finish first Things that annoy folks who act with courtesy BY BRYAN GOLDEN Bryan@columnist.com Chances are you’ve heard the expres sion, “nice guys finish last.” Nothing could be fur ther from the truth. This statement is used by many to justify less than ethical treatment of others. Under the guise of not wanting to finish last, people engage in incon siderate conduct. At best, this type of behavior will give the illusion of short term gains. These gains come with a high price; the forfeiture of building a solid foundation of living which will last a lifetime. Being nice is not syn onymous with subjugating your dignity or your right to assert yourself. Don’t allow yourself to be used as a doormat. Everyone has been in a situation where they felt obligated or pressured to agree to do something. Being nice entails be ing considerate, polite, respectful and thought ful. Being nice means not elevating yourself by stepping on others. Being nice requires understand ing that you are not better than someone else and no one is better than you. Be ing nice compels you to help people without ex pecting anything in return. Unfortunately, there are those who view being nice as a sign of weakness and as an invitation to take ad vantage. However, no one can take advantage of you without your permission. Your response when someone tries to take ad vantage of you sets a prec edent that determines how you are subsequently treated. Unless you make your limits clear, people will continually try to push your boundaries. Your limits will be tested on several fronts: at work, by family, and by friends. At work you have an obligation to perform certain services in return for your pay. But when requests fall outside your job responsibilities, you must decide whether you want to or should comply. It’s not uncommon to experience direct or im plied pressure that your employment or advance ment might be affected if you say no. Be clear in your own mind what your limits are. Don’t allow your self to be held hostage because you are afraid to say no to unreasonable or inappropriate requests. If you are so concerned by job security that you won’t say no, you broad cast that you have no limits. As a result, you will continually be taken advantage of. When appro priate, say no, and you will usually find that nothing bad happens and you are treated with more respect. Requests from fam ily and friends are differ ent. Guilt and peer pres sure is used to cajole you into doing what someone else wants. Exceed your boundaries and you will be taken advantage of repeat edly. Decline requests with politeness and a smile. Be diplomatic by saying things like “Thank you for asking, but 1 have a prior obligation” or “I’ve already made other plans.” Some times you will decline a re quest because of the way you’ve been treated. If this is the case, don’t express it as your reason for saying no. Take the high road and don’t get caught in the trap of retribution. All that matters is that you don’t do what you don’t want to do. You are not obligated to justify your actions or explain yourself. If you don’t respect your own limits, no one else will. Demand respect and you’ll receive it. KAY S. PEDR0TTI kayspedrotti@gmail.com There are so many people out there today who seem to have no re gard for anyone besides themselves. They are especially noticed when driving, or in a parking lot on which the cus tomers’ purchases may be rolled to their cars in buggies. Just an example - the handicap parking spaces on the south side of Ingles. The yellow-striped area is supposed to be clear so that people who need to walk in a safe area, or have to walk slowly, can be shielded from drivers. At least two of every three times I visit that grocery, those areas are speckled with carts. Not all people who use the spaces legally are so debilitated they can’t roll a cart 50 feet back into the store, or to a cart corral, in stead of leaving it in the walkways. Many times the carts are dumped by people who are not parked in a restricted space. Some times the carts are aban doned in the driveways, too - motorists, beware of dents and dings! On the road - be cause I believe in law enforcement, and also believe that our law officers in Lamar County, Barnesville and Milner are among the best anywhere, I do not exceed 5 mph over the posted speed, anywhere from the interstates to town roads. Most of the time, I will use cruise control to stay on the speed limit - because I have so much respect for the cops, and because they have more important things to do than having to chase down excessive speeders. Also, many road idjits (look under southern slang for eejits, or idiots) do not seem to understand that big-rig trucks are indeed many tons bigger than four- wheelers. They will ignore a big truck’s need to move over into the middle or left lane to avoid someone who is not as big or as fast as they are. I can’t count how many times I’ve reduced speed to let a big truck to get in front of me to make a pass around a slow-mover. Some of these slow- movers also do not understand that too-slow driving on an interstate can cause a wreck just as rapidly as speeding. Another annoyance happening on a lot of city and county roads is trash thrown from cars. My car may sometimes look like too much trash has accumu lated on the floors, but I will NOT throw it out the window. Somebody has to mow the rights- of-way and clean out the curb gutters. Chances are those people are underpaid, overworked and subject to getting run over by distracted drivers. Or maybe some poor homeowner can not get the roadside on his property mowed properly without having to pick up trash. That often includes the worst offenders (beer cans), followed by soda cans and beer bottles, Styro foam containers, greasy papers, etc., etc. Since the six-foot-dis- tance ruling during the height of the pandemic, most folks are better about not crowding in grocery store or other shop lines. Some are still defying everything and will insist on stand ing where they want to, not wearing masks (that’s almost universal now since so many of us are vaccinated) and assert some kind of “right” to inconvenience anybody they please. There is no evidence that acting ugly ever got anybody anywhere any faster than being nice. It’s worth a few extra minutes’ wait to see someone smile and say, “Thank you.” If you are the instru ment of kindness, not the example of bad behavior, I guarantee you will sleep better at night. Kay S. Pedrotti has spent some 50 years writing for newspapers. She is active in the Lamar County community and currently serves as the president of Lamar Arts. She lives in Milner with her husband Bob Pedrotti. Pike County Journal Reporter's letter printing guidelines The Pike County Jour nal Reporter welcomes letters to the editor. For a letter to be con sidered for publication, include the writer’s actual name, address and telephone number when submitting it. We publish name only. Letters from individual authors will be pub lished no more often than every other week. Limit letters to 250 words or less. Shorter letters are appreciated. All letters are subject to editing. Personal attacks on private citizens, political endorsements or letters that are racially divisive will not be considered. Drop letters by the office on the courthouse square, mail them to P.O. Box 789, Zebulon, 30295, fax them to 770.567.8814 or email them to news@pike- countygeorgia.com. For additional information, call 770.567.3446. Pike County Journal Reporter www.pikecountygeorgia.com P.O. Box 789 16026 Barnesville St. Zebulon, Ga. 30295 770.567.3446 The Pike County Journal Reporter is the official organ of Pike County, the cities of Zebulon, Moiena, Meansville, Williamson and Concord. It is published weekly by Hometown Newspapers Inc. Second class postage is paid at the Zebulon, Ga Post Office. Publishers: Walter and Laura Geiger; staff: Jennifer Taylor, Brenda Sanchez and Rachel McDaniel. AT PIKE BY DWAIN W. PENN 100 YEARS AGO November 4, 1921: A surprising update on the ginned cotton in Pike County. Prior to October 18, 5,218 bales of cotton were ginned compared to 9,441 bales in 1920, a decrease of 4,223 bales. 75 YEARS AGO November 7, 1946: Less than 10% of Georgia voters participated in the general election. It was a little better in Pike with over 20% voting to re-elect Herman Talmadge as Governor and determine a state constitution amendment for a State Board of Welfare. 50 YEARS AGO November 5, 1971: Sgt. Edward L. Beckham, serving in Vietnam since January, was named sol dier of the month, awarded $50 savings bond and a three-day furlough in South Vietnam. Mr. and Mrs. James Beckham of Concord were proud parents. 25 YEARS AGO November 6,1996: The discovery of an aban doned landfill on the proposed Concord site of Grif fin’s water reservoir resulted in two decisions. Grif fin could choose the Hollonville site for the reservoir or dig out contaminated soil at the Concord site.