What’s With the Bumblebee Graffiti All Over Maine Stores?

Okay, I've had enough of whoever this idiot of a person is. Last week, I remember seeing a spray-painted bumblebee on the front of a store window in downtown Portland, and thinking, "I hope that person's happy now that they've successfully made themselves look like a jerk with their 'art'."

The next day, that same business had painted over it, and I was happy to see it looking back to normal. Well, that wasn't the end of it. The next day, the damn bumblebee was back, but on the neighboring storefront. At this point, this person is just a jerk, not an artist. By the end of the day, the bee was yet again painted over, and I felt bad for this small business owner. At this point, fine. I can recognize a jerk who's bored in the middle of the night and wants to look cool in front of his friends, but today, it's thrown me over the edge, because it only gets worse.

There's a small business across the street from my studio that just had their windows broken by somebody in the middle of the night, also causing havoc. There's now wooden boards on the window until they can get it replaced. To add insult to injury, mystery bee man (or woman) has struck again, and spray-painted a 10-foot bumblebee on the wood holding their windows together. At this point, you're disrespectful, and deserve to stub your toe.

Think about this, my dude (if this article gets to you). I get it. It's a street artist thing to "make your mark", or whatever slogan you justify this with. We're in Portland, Maine, not Detroit. Portland is a city that is uniquely run by small businesses, giving our state the charm that allows it to be called "Vacationland". You're ruining the city's aesthetics by trying to brand yourself. Actually, you're hurting your brand by doing this, not helping it. Small businesses in this city work really damn hard to have a storefront in the middle of the city, and it's no joke trying to maintain that. Re-painting their own art to cover your ignorant spray-paint shouldn't have to be in their budget or in the back of their mind.