Middle class apathy

Apathy? Fear? Don't care?

We have a common enough problem in front of our apartment complex. A sewage drain has been clogged for several days and the civic authority in charge hasn't fixed it in spite of complaints and much follow up.

A Twitter campaign would be a good way to exert some pressure, right? Some of us thought so too and posted a tweet, tagged the authority, and requested everyone in the apartment to retweet and amplify the post.

More than 36 hours later, a paltry 10% of residents have participated. That's disappointing in a complex of over 200 apartment units.

Not that the problem doesn't affect everyone. The smelly filth is gushing out and gathering in rivulets and pools along the road and in front of the gates. Cars and two wheelers squelch over it spreading it further. Pedestrians skirt the gooey muck and cover their nose. School children wait for their buses next to it. You can't pretend it doesn't exist.

So what is keeping our educated and tech savvy citizens from protesting? No Twitter account? Introversion? Fear? Apathy?

As always, there are some people who take initiative and go the extra mile to get things done. Pareto principle applies. We will solve the problem.

But for communities to work better, more people need to get involved.

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