Photo by Steffani Cameron.
Wow. What a difference 24 hours makes.
There’s something about hundreds, maybe thousands, of drunk-assed fuck-faces rampaging through your city, breaking glass, burning cars, and hurting innocent civilians that makes one go, “Hey, you know what? I love this place. And you just PISSED ME OFF.”
One of Vancouver’s finest somewhat-under-the-radar bloggers (bookmark that shit, yo) is Kimli. She has deliciously turned her snark on to these three asshatted rioters. Based on the strength & zeal of this piece, I think she should embrace her angst and do an entire series on these jerks (and out-of-towners!) who thought they’d try messing up Vancouver, and tarnishing our reputation worldwide.
I love my town, man.
I love my town with its disparity of lives, rich-versus-poor, plastic-ass districts like Yaletown, through to hard-ass hard-luck big-art cultural-love-in ‘hoods like Commercial Drive on the East Side.
I love my town with its ludicrous concrete jungle in the middle of a temperate rainforest at the bottom of big-ass mountains on the coast of the wide watery world of the Pacific.
I love my wickedly multicultural once-upon-a-world white-folk sushi-capital crazy-ass side-of-Little-India jumble of a town.
And these guys picked the wrong fucking day to toy with us.
We were gonna take it all, win the Cup finally, and instead of just losing The Cup, we lost our reputation and our self-respect.
A sick billion dollars will be pumped down the drain because of these asshats. Some will be getting in trouble with the law for stealing a Big Gulp or Pringles, and I hope the insignificance of their theft does not diminish the extent of punishment they receive.
Principles, baby. Gotta have ’em.
Because the world is hurting, because the economy has been gutted like a fish, because there are better things to do than coddle these spoiled drunk punks with incarceration, I would hope the City of Vancouver will solicit “alternative punishment” ideas from the public.
Whether it’s making rioters clean up inner-city elementary schools, ridding beaches of trash, doing clean-up after civic summer events, working for the employers whose businesses they damaged, being forced to talk to high schools about why they regret doing the criminal acts they did — I think there are two things we can’t really do; We can’t run up taxpayers’ tab with jail time for all these assholes, and we can’t cripple them too far into their future with huge reparations fines, thus escalating their angst.
But they need to pay with their time and their physical labour. The city and Mayor Gregor Robertson should let the public speak as to how that should happen.
Photo by Steffani Cameron.
Last night, I was embarrassed. I was hurt. I was angry. And I would have beat the living shit out of someone who was guilty of crimes against this city if I could have.
This morning, I got up, I did my social-media-woot thingie of informing the locals and world at large about Douchebaggery Central as the morning unfolded more and more. Then I decided that, back instability or not, I just had to get my ass downtown to experience the “Day After.” I couldn’t let the asshats win.
And I’m so very, very, very glad.
Tonight, fueled by the clearly mad-deep-true love most Vancouverites have for their city — because, after all, more than 18,000 people signed up on Facebook to do clean-up today and, as a result of those who honoured that commitment, the biggest riot in almost 4 decades was cleaned up before lunchtime.
During the clean-up, hundreds and perhaps thousands of people wrote on the boarded-up windows with markers left by every pane, messages of everything from apologies to the hockey team, testimonies of love for the city, through to rightful damnation of the rioters.
As the city was literally swept up in a wave of awesomeness, people’s angst turned to pride and love for their fellow citizens. Friendships formed, people shared and laughed. It was a really, really awesome experience to be there even for just an hour.
Photo by Steffani Cameron.
Now, people have turned their attention, like Kimli, toward trying to expose all these assholes for who they are. They need to pay with their friends, their schools, their jobs, everything.
We cannot abide this behaviour.
If the government cannot punish them, then we must socially ostracize them.
There is a code. You do not fuck with another man’s home.
This is our home. This is our town.
Whether local or not, that behaviour will never be tolerated in Vancouver at our public events.
You’re on notice, asshats. We have smartphones. You’re on video. And it ain’t the 15 minutes’ fame you’d hoped for.
Everyone else, we got your back. Get here, have fun with us. We’re good people. We’re not gonna let these chumps wreck our party.
We’ll see y’all same time next year, man. Without the losers.
See below for TIJANA MARTIN PHOTOGRAPHY's link. Photo by Tijana Martin.
Visit http://tijanamartinphotography.wordpress.com/ for more heartwrenching riot (and pregame fan) photography.
BY THE WAY:
Do I think it was all out-of-towners? No, not likely. Mostly? Could be, yes. I suspect most of the INITIAL rioters were out-of-towners. I also suspect locals who were drunk and stupid enough were all too happy to engage all too quickly.
It couldn’t have NOT included locals. I’m looking forward to learning how much of it was locals versus not.
Steff, I wasn’t sure how else to reach you, but I wanted to share with you another piece of literary work I have written partially; to be directed towards the Canucks themselves, the players, coaches and organization as a whole.
“We, the Loyal fans of Vancouver encourage you to stay strong and persevere. We are very happy with all you’ve given us this year, and in the playoffs. Please know the entire Province of BC, Canada, and the City of Vancouver is thinking of you all at this time and we will continue to support you in continuing to strive for greatness. This is important for you to know, that we; the Fans of our beloved Vancouver Canucks; Love you and will always support you”
I’m with you… and I’m not. Personally, I have a HUGE problem with the public shaming aspect of all of this. Do I disagree with identification being provided to the police? Not at all. If I’d seen anyone I knew, they would be reported instantly; if, in 11 years, my kid is a wannabe riot-girl in the uncool sense, I’ll give her six hours to turn herself in before I do it for her. But.
A) Privacy laws exist for a reason. Especially in cases like this, wherein the offenders that have been publicly named and shamed are (I believe) 3:1, minors to adults. Kimli’s post incorrectly stated the ‘poster boy’ as being a student in university — he’s been accepted, but is in grade 12, as was the hockey-stick toting war-faced boy. He was actually arrested while in class. English, I think it was.
Since their names have been published, flashed EVERYWHERE digital, so has their other personal information. Their parents have received threatening, demeaning phone calls; they’re worried for their safety and livelihoods.
That’s not on us to do.
Here’s the B):
Vancouverites, and especially social media users, are taking part in their own sort of mob mentality. here. It’s not a flaming cop car, it’s a flamed email account, father’s voicemail, facebook profiles, twitter accounts, and so on. It’s easy to get to anyone via 12 different channels — whether the ‘getting’ is to harass, or to share contact info with someone else, so that they can support harassment.
I agree, they shouldn’t get off for any crimes they committed on Wednesday/Thursday, but the structure of our judicial system is such that they likely will, by virtue of age, economics, resources, ‘worth’, and more. But they’re not merely walking away, chuckling, you know? Example: The one kid’s water polo career is likely over, after being suspending from the Canada team and (it seems) losing his scholarship. No one will want to touch him, professionally, or anyone unrelated with the same name, just in case.
(and there’s a C). Sorry.
The mobscenes on blogs, facebook, twitter, yada yada, are all devolving at some point in the conversations from one of ‘personal accountability is necessary’ to ‘shame on those parents. They are [solely?] to blame’. As a parent, I take offence to this; as a human being, I take offence to this. As an intelligent person, I smirk at the notion that a nearly fully-formed individual, having decided to pack a backpack full of Molotov cocktails and related sundries in preparation for Game 7, who is capable of procuring alcohol underage, drinking said alcohol in public without interference, and then letting loose his existential angst upon a city for a four-hour span… just wasn’t raised right.
IMO, that’s the kind of thinking that does create a judicial environment that allows ‘kids’ to get off, completely free of legal penance.
Small D):
Did you read the comments to Matt Good’s piece in the UK Guardian? Seriously, these riots have not affected negative bias upon Canada, world-wide. People don’t care about it, other than that we’re proclaiming ourselves as ashamed and concerned that it will ruin out rep. A rep that seems to be comprised of the words ‘boring’, ‘snobbish’ and ‘elitist’.
Thus endeth the longest comment I’ve ever left on someone’s blog, ever, that I’m totally apologetic for, but just can’t/couldn’t stop myself.