Who's doing what

It's hardly selfish just because La Madera has a fairly active community council.

I thought you were a deeper thinker than that, Sidney.

La Madera does not atrract tourists on its own. It is part of a larger picture with a common problem and common interests.

For years Zihuatanejo businesses have been complaining about how Ixtapa gets all the publicity and attention. Well, we can't have it both ways. While La Madera has every right to ask for neighborhood improvements, when it comes to certain things like public security La Madera needs to remember that it hurts them the same whether a tourist gets robbed (or worse) in their neighborhood as it does if one gets robbed in La Ropa, El Centro or Ixtapa. So while they have every right to ask for increased police protection, it would serve their residents well to remember that La Madera is not alone in its crime problem. When we discuss security-related issues among residents of El Centro, we are not excluding La Madera from the discussion since a good deal of our clients stay in lodgings there. We share common fates and common interests.

And the remedies are the same for our entire community: professionalized and better paid police force with a visible presence in hotel zones, better neighborhood watch programs, security cameras, street lighting that actually illuminates the streets and walkways instead of everyone's second floor living quarters. Etcetera.

In the area where we live, Lupita and I are always vigilant to what is happening outside our home. It behooves Madera residents to be the same way instead of closing out the outside world when they close their doors and turn on their televisions. When I lived there, I felt not too different from the Lone Ranger, because I was the ONLY person who caught two wannabe thieves during the 7 or so years we resided there. No one else there even made an effort. They would wring their hands and complain a lot, but I never heard of anyone else confronting and detaining robbers. Apathy is the worst enemy of our community, but unfortunately almost everyone here displays it in spades.

Instead of everyone trying to channel water to their own mill, folks need to keep our common interests in mind.