11-28-2014, 04:28 AM
Justin -
The only way to point out the inaccuracies of a few "experts" on TripAdvisor is to discuss what they are posting, so I agree this thread has a different purpose. It's not to drag down TripAdvisor posters, it's to ask them to base their observations on reality. Take for example a recent post over there:
It happened to me my last trip, and every single time I visit I notice the derelicts, yes, absolutely. My family has used the Bay Clinic in Pahoa for almost a decade of medical care, thus requiring frequent trips to Pahoa for that alone (not the only reason I go). Plenty of killing time on the trips where I offered the transportation, as the Bay Clinic doesn't see people remotely on time, sometimes hours of waiting. Each time I have heard and seen things in public that were not at all the norm for me around Hilo, and even more so not in Kohala.
Maybe "they" sense you are a regular and don't bother to approach you?
Now, any resident of Puna will know that is just not true. I've lived here 15 years and have been approached in Pahoa by a bona fide derelict maybe a couple of times. But therein lies the problem. If you read more of the "expert's" posts, you come to realize that as residents of Puna, we are all derelicts in their eyes. From the perspective of an outsider high on a branch in a Hamakua eucalyptus tree, looking down at us, figuratively and literally, the statement above will be defended as the absolute truth. How do you get around that kind of thinking?
Imagine how it looks to someone on the mainland who doesn't know any better?
The only way to point out the inaccuracies of a few "experts" on TripAdvisor is to discuss what they are posting, so I agree this thread has a different purpose. It's not to drag down TripAdvisor posters, it's to ask them to base their observations on reality. Take for example a recent post over there:
It happened to me my last trip, and every single time I visit I notice the derelicts, yes, absolutely. My family has used the Bay Clinic in Pahoa for almost a decade of medical care, thus requiring frequent trips to Pahoa for that alone (not the only reason I go). Plenty of killing time on the trips where I offered the transportation, as the Bay Clinic doesn't see people remotely on time, sometimes hours of waiting. Each time I have heard and seen things in public that were not at all the norm for me around Hilo, and even more so not in Kohala.
Maybe "they" sense you are a regular and don't bother to approach you?
Now, any resident of Puna will know that is just not true. I've lived here 15 years and have been approached in Pahoa by a bona fide derelict maybe a couple of times. But therein lies the problem. If you read more of the "expert's" posts, you come to realize that as residents of Puna, we are all derelicts in their eyes. From the perspective of an outsider high on a branch in a Hamakua eucalyptus tree, looking down at us, figuratively and literally, the statement above will be defended as the absolute truth. How do you get around that kind of thinking?
Imagine how it looks to someone on the mainland who doesn't know any better?
"I'm at that stage in life where I stay out of discussions. Even if you say 1+1=5, you're right - have fun." - Keanu Reeves