Another Tourist Camp Pain

This isn't to far off subject because it does affect the way we drive and do things here in the State of Maine during the tourist season. Traffic Patterns change, speeds slow or get exponentially faster depending on the state that particular tourist is from. We even play into it by cranking up the Downeast'ah accent about 5 notches just to get a reaction from the person. Some of our coastal communities depend on the tourist for income and livelihood, as well as entertainment. I myself have been known to give them the wrong directions ,when asked " How do you get to...". Hey like I said its entertainment.

Then the Tourist Bureau steps in to help out in these tough times, by coming up with some type of little campaign with a catch phrase that really is laughable. It would be better to take our little phrases and put them all together in a sentence, than look at them separately.

As you all know the sign reads as you enter our State , "Maine, The Way Life Should Be". Now don't get me wrong, I like the idea that life is good and all, but it should not be the way it is here. With rules and regulations and frigging taxes on everything including the damn taxes, life should not be this way at all.

Enter into our lives the stick boy we call our Governor with his touristy little quaint campaign "There's More To Maine". First Question, Where? There is no more to Maine today than there was yesterday or the day before. We have not annexed parts of Canada or New Hampshire to create "More".

What we do have more of is, more laws, regulations, rules, ordinances for the citizens of our state that somehow don't seem to apply to those from "away". We also have more bad roads, more budget cuts, more taxes, fees, highway tolls and Government interference in our everyday lives than should be. The list could be a full volume in the annals of history of all the "More" we have.

The need of combining these to little catch phrases is overwhelming in my eyes. Coming up with a statement that is closer in truth may deter tourists from acting the way they normally do and be tad more respectful of the true Mainer.

After much thought and some planning I would like to launch a new campaign. The sign would read, "There's More To Maine Than The Way Life Should Be". This would be accompanied by a construction project that would include, a 15 mile stretch of highway with toll booths every 3 miles and fees of $2.00 per car/truck at each booth. The road itself would be constructed in a Loop so that after the 15 miles they would be back in New Hampshire. Oh I forgot to mention that another sign would be viewed on the way out.

Now the revenue generated by this system should be able to pay for better roads and less taxes, it would employ many for a period of time, maybe even have enough to hire a lobbyist to stem the tide of rule making concerning the Citizen. Then maybe after a few years we can have, "The Way Life Should Be". Do the math, it could work.

So you enter the state to a $2.00 toll and a sign that reads, "There's More To Maine Than The Way Life Should Be", you pay your tolls for a total of $12.00 in 15 miles only to see a sign that says, "A'Yuh, And You Don't Get To See It".