3. My Bench

The sun shines over the rocks at the top of the Grouse Grind. It is a beautiful scene, with all of Vancouver laid out below. There, however is one little problem with this paradise: it is an international tourist destination, but there is nowhere to sit. I understand how vital the tourists are to our economy, and that is why I would want to improve this space for them. When hikers come up the grind, they are perfectly content to rest their weary bodies on the sun drenched rocks below the world famous Grouse Mountain Super Skyride. Tourists, on the other hand, are not quite as keen to sit on the dirty ground as the locals are, and it is a common sight to see them standing awkwardly, looking for a nice place to sit. If I was to have a bench dedicated to me, I would put it amongst the rocks at the top of the grind. There, it would stand as a reward to the person who was fast enough to claim it. My bench would be a welcome relief for fatigued feet.
On the engraving plate, there would be a short phrase; something witty for the educated public – I think I would put “Thank God we aren’t Sisyphus.” Sisyphus was a character from Greek mythology. He angered the Gods and was punished in Hades by having to roll a giant rock up a mountain, only to have it roll back down on him once he reached the summit. It is not hard to come up with the correlation between this story and climbing the Grouse Grind. When people finish they grind, they are filled with a sense of accomplishment and relief that it is over. For Sisyphus, however, there is no such relief because he must run back down to the bottom to push the rock up again. After climbing “The Grind” once, the last thing I want to do is force myself up it again.