June 16, 2011

  • Burned and trashed

    That’s the comment I saw on one of the online news articles about Vancouver.  And I’m not even talking about the hockey game.

    Every time this happens in Montreal, my heart dies a little.  Every time I hear that a bunch of stupid ass people started a riot because the Habs won, lost, didn’t win by enough, whatever, I get so angry.  Why the fuck would you do that?  This is our city… OURS!

    What happened last night was disgusting.  Not because it was Montreal.  It wasn’t Montreal.  It was disgusting because it was Vancouver – Canada’s most beautiful city. 


    Beautiful Vancouver

    Don’t get me wrong, Montreal is my hometown and Toronto is my current home, and both cities are beautiful…but Vancouver is…it’s a dream.  At least it was until last night – when it became a nightmare.

    When the riots were going on during G20 in Toronto, I was so angry.  I could not believe it was happening. 


    G20 in Toronto - 2010

    And so soon after the glorious Olympics in Vancouver, and all the criticism we receive in Toronto for our “whining”…HOW COULD THIS HAPPEN!?!  If that made no logical sense, maybe it’s because I’m so irate!  Have these people really NO RESPECT AT ALL for these beautiful cities?!  REALLY?!? REALLY?!?!

     

     

    The outcome of the game no longer matter.  I’m not a Canucks fan, but I was cheering for them because I hate the Bruins so much.  But to read that this riot started because someone burned a plush bear (which in itself is a travesty) is heart breaking because losing to the Bruins is not worth it - not worth destroying Vancouver...or ANY city for that matter!


    June 15, 2011 - Downtown Vancouver

    FOR FUCK’S SAKE, PEOPLE! IT’S ONLY A HOCKEY GAME!!!

    Why could these people not just go home and trash their houses?  It’s the same thing.  All that public infrastructure they destroyed and damaged…belongs to all of us (or all the residents of Vancouver).  The number I’ve seen thrown around so far is about $1M of damage.  It’s more than 1,000x that in terms of reputation.  Every single ounce of good publicity won by a successful hosting of the Winter Olympics – ripped to shreds, thrown on the ground and burned.  Nice.  Excellent.

    For all the problems/challenges Vancouver faces on a day to day basis, THIS is not something they needed.  And horrible drunkards did this because of a hockey game.

    To those who ravaged the city

    • Vancouver is our crown jewel – you just trashed and burned OUR CROWN JEWEL!!

    • That’s CANADA’S reputation you shat on – that reputation of us being peaceful and nice.
    • It’s CANADA’S GAME you disgraced – hockey…yes…hockey; I saw comments saying that hockey should be banned, that it’s stupid, that it’s…doesn’t fucking matter.  You mess with the national sport, you should rot in hell.
    • I’m in shock and disbelief that *anyone* at all could possibly think that anything that happened last night could even remotely be justified, acceptable, tolerated, or lauded.
    • On the practical side, you wasted tax dollars by burning and trashing public infrastructure… tax dollars that have already been spent.  AND if that wasn’t enough, you’ve also burned future tax dollars to clean up this mess and replace what was broken.  You really think VanCity has that sort of money to waste?  Wouldn’t you rather the city paid for other services or collected less tax?  Neither of those are options now.
    • Clearly you don’t care how other people feel, but let’s say for 2 seconds you do care.  HOW DO YOU THINK THE CANUCKS FEEL RIGHT NOW?!  As if it’s not bad enough that they lost in Game 7 of the Stanley Cup finals after starting the series up 2 games to none…as if it’s not bad enough that they got blown out 4-0…YOU FUCKING BURNED AND TRASHED THE CITY BECAUSE THEY LOST A GAME!!!!
    • Did I mention that it was just a game, yet?
    • You were burning stuff that shouldn’t be burned. The environment has enough problems without you adding to it.  But then again, you obviously just don't care.
    • With Mother Nature in an uproar and destroying cities around the world with floods, earthquakes, tsunamis, hurricanes, tornados (etc...), did you *really* have to do this to yourself?!  Seriously?!?  A riot?!  HOW STUPID IS THAT!!!!

     

    Fukushima, Japan

    I feel a physical pain in my heart right now and I didn’t even have that much vested to begin with.  I’m not from Vancouver.  I’ve never lived in Vancouver (though I have visited).  And I’m not a Canucks fan (I neither hate nor love them).  But I care a great deal about right and wrong.  I care a great deal about taking care of the world, our environment, our cities and our people.  If I personify Vancouver as a child, last night, she was brutal raped and beaten by the people who are supposed to take care of her.  If I could, I would wrap her up in a blanket and tell her that it will be okay.  And if I could, I would exile all those who participated in this travesty because they don’t deserve to live in the beautiful city of Vancouver.  They don’t even deserve the privilege of visiting.

    I hope that all these people get arrested.  I know that Vancouver will recover.  And I hope that Canada’s reputation can be repaired. 

    And for the parents of these delinquents…I hope you’re satisfied with your failure.  You spawned that cretin.  And they just spoiled something special.  Not only do I blame the individuals, I ALSO blame their parents.  Don’t say it’s not your fault.  It might not be 100% your fault, but that’s your genetic waste out there…take some fucking accountability.  If my kid did that, I’d haul their sorry ass to jail myself – after a good solid backhand slap.

     

Comments (4)

  • I heard about this and couldn't understand it.

  • @TheSecretLifeOfPandas - I still don't understand.

  • As a Montrealer, I feel your pain.  Maybe even more so: because I'm not a hockey fan, so it's even more ridiculous to me when people start tearing up the streets over just a game.

    That said, I think that game riots don't necessarily happen just because of the games-- the games are just a trigger for social and cultural illnesses to explode.  Just like the summit in Ontario, you could take most people and make them sit down and they would agree that rioting and fighting the police does more to detract from the cause than to help it.  So why do people do it?

    I think it's just easy to connect the wrong dots.  They're upset about A, but there happens to be a target B, and with the environment, it's easy to join everyone and scapegoat B to vent frustrations.  The average person who throws a rock through a cop car's window probably isn't thinking "Take that Boston!" they're probably thinking of the parking ticket they got last week, or the shitty day they had at work.

    Which of course doesn't justify it-- I guess all I'm saying is that what the game does is make people emotional, and there's a ressonance between people that makes things get exciting and dangerous really fast.

    While I do find it kinda excessive to have cops on every corner of st-catherine's, I think we need to probably change the underlying culture of the city to prevent riots.

    On a side note, when I was in South Korea, people who asked which uni I went to were surprised to find out that I went to Concordia-- apparently, it's internationally famous for riots!

  • @Jinryu - I don't know that it's as complicated as looking for an alternative means to manifest an old frustration.  I'm guessing it's more simple - like forgetting how to behave like a civilized human being because they think they can get away with it. 

    Concordia is internationally famous for riots?  Really?

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