Lucky us, living in a small town. The joys of small-town life are many, but one of the best is the ability to engage in a good kerfuffle.

If you’re not familiar, a kerfuffle is a minor disagreement over a trivial issue. Kerfuffles make a nice change from the world of real problems. Considering that the news is filled with North Korean nukes, hurricanes, sex scandals and a president who’s better at showmanship than statesmanship, it’s good to have something to argue about that just doesn’t matter in the grand scheme of things.

Kerfuffles, in addition to being very fun to say (and write), are cathartic. In the wake of a good kerfuffle, neighbors dust themselves off, shake hands, and part ways as friends.

Here’s an example. It involves the new digital sign at the intersection of the highway and Lindvog Road. You know, the one that showed up in December and announces community events, time and temperature (and the date, in case you’ve just arrived back in town in a plutonium-powered DeLorean). It was paid for and installed by the Kingston Rotary.

Shortly after the sign’s installation, the comments were jumping on Facebook’s North Kitsap Community site. (If you’re unfamiliar with the site, check it out. It has more than 10,000 members and is abuzz with your neighbors’ concerns, from business referrals and lost dogs to odd queries such as if the sheriff’s office has visiting Scottish deputies).

The kerfuffle in question began with the observation: “Not a fan of the new reader sign in Kingston, I don’t like that it is digital. Anyone else feel that way?” And the floodgates opened. Before long, there were

108 comments — and this at a time of year when most of us are too busy to engage in anything online besides Christmas shopping.

Opinions flew like locals merging into ferry traffic: “I love it!” “I hate the thing.” “It’s awesome.” “It’s ugly.” “It ruins the small-town feel.” “Great addition.” “It’s hard to read.” “It adds some class to Kingston” (as if the giant Adirondack chairs hadn’t already done that). And, predictably: “There’s a new reader sign in Kingston?”

You have to admit, it’s hard to beat the succinct elegance of “ick.” Or the feverish enthusiasm of “this town needs a little sparkle!” There was the practical gratitude of simply having a working clock in town, until someone else pointed out that the clock will only serve to “help you freak out that you missed the boat.” Ah, every rose has its thorn. One waggish commenter expressed a sentiment I think we can all get behind; he just wants the sign to tell us “that West Kingston Road is finally reopened.”

The main concern is that the sign doesn’t fit in with the “Kingston vibe” in general and Kingston design standards in particular. Several residents lamented its digital nature and wondered what’s wrong with the kind of old-fashioned, low-tech signs Kingston has already. The nostalgia for the charms of the old signs seems a bit misplaced considering the old Kingston Lumber sign, directly across from the new digital sign, has been missing a T for months. “It is better o find out than to suppose,” it says. Welcome to Kingson. We have better things to do than find the stinking T.

So what’s my opinion, you ask? Oh, no. I’m not touching that with a 10-foot pole (which, incidentally, is about the length of the one used to change the letters on the old reader board at the former community center. I have done this, and it’s a pain).

To sum up, let me return to Facebook. “Change is coming people … buckle up!” It’s a sign of change.

— Wendy Tweten is a long-time columnist for Kingston Community News.