It is autumn and in my part of the world the leaves start falling from the trees, and land on streets, bike lanes, sidewalks, train rails and so forth.
This can be a problem as wet leaves on the sidewalk or bike lane become slippery, and thus become dangerous to pedestrians and bike riders.
The transportation authorities do a great job in trying to keep the sidewalks and bike lanes safe, but I do use the word trying very deliberately here.
Because although their intentions are the best, I am not so sure about at least one of their solution alternatives - the leaf blower.
Now why do I have a problem with leaf blowers? Well they seem very prone to only solve the problem temporarily, at least if they are not put together with appropriate additional equipment.
I watched the following scene the other day:
A worker was using a leaf blower to blow leaves from the bike lane onto the sidewalk, and then from the sidewalk on to a strip of grass running along the sidewalk. It worked as a short term solution, but it does not take a genius to realize that a small change of wind direction or pickup in wind power would push the leaves right back onto the sidewalk.
Now, aside from the point that it of course is a sort of job security for the individual assigned with the task of cleaning the sidewalks and bike lanes, it does seem like a very short sighted solution, which could very likely result in twice as many leaves on the sidewalk the next day.
Now if we transpose the leaf situation to a more generic problem solving situation, there is actually a point here.
When dealing with a problem, there is often a nice quick fix which can push the problem aside, clearing the situation for now. Unfortunately these quick fixed have a habit of coming back to haunt you very quickly and with greater strength. Very much like the leaves in my little case.
The point being, that it is not always the quick fix that works best. Maybe a leaf vacuum cleaner to collect the leaves would be a better and more permanent solution.
And if you do decide to use the quick fix, make sure that you combine it with measures that keeps it as a fix.
In the leaf blower analogy it could be to use the leaf blower to gather the leaves, and then put them in a bin and take them somewhere they do not pose a hazard.
This can be a problem as wet leaves on the sidewalk or bike lane become slippery, and thus become dangerous to pedestrians and bike riders.
The transportation authorities do a great job in trying to keep the sidewalks and bike lanes safe, but I do use the word trying very deliberately here.
Because although their intentions are the best, I am not so sure about at least one of their solution alternatives - the leaf blower.
Now why do I have a problem with leaf blowers? Well they seem very prone to only solve the problem temporarily, at least if they are not put together with appropriate additional equipment.
I watched the following scene the other day:
A worker was using a leaf blower to blow leaves from the bike lane onto the sidewalk, and then from the sidewalk on to a strip of grass running along the sidewalk. It worked as a short term solution, but it does not take a genius to realize that a small change of wind direction or pickup in wind power would push the leaves right back onto the sidewalk.
Now, aside from the point that it of course is a sort of job security for the individual assigned with the task of cleaning the sidewalks and bike lanes, it does seem like a very short sighted solution, which could very likely result in twice as many leaves on the sidewalk the next day.
Now if we transpose the leaf situation to a more generic problem solving situation, there is actually a point here.
When dealing with a problem, there is often a nice quick fix which can push the problem aside, clearing the situation for now. Unfortunately these quick fixed have a habit of coming back to haunt you very quickly and with greater strength. Very much like the leaves in my little case.
The point being, that it is not always the quick fix that works best. Maybe a leaf vacuum cleaner to collect the leaves would be a better and more permanent solution.
And if you do decide to use the quick fix, make sure that you combine it with measures that keeps it as a fix.
In the leaf blower analogy it could be to use the leaf blower to gather the leaves, and then put them in a bin and take them somewhere they do not pose a hazard.
