Ok this time it's not about cell phones, though it's neverending!
This time, however it is about mothers who while they know the kid belongs to them, seem to have forgotten about the MINDING bit.
I use transit to scoot around the city on a daily basis and as a result am subjected to a gong-show on every trip. It never fails, transit is full of clowns the circus left behind.
Someone please explain to me why a mother with a screaming child cannot think of anything else to shut them up but to smother the kid by covering his/her mouth? Is this supposed to stop them from wailing? I don't know about you but if someone was holding me back from oxygen I too would put up one helluva fight!
And next to have mom remove the hand from the kid's mouth ( BREAAAATHE " thanks Mom") only to smack them because he/she bit her! Umm, give your head a shake lady - seriously! Someone oughtta smack you at this point! She may as well have slapped a piece of duct tape across the kid's gob - plenty of nutjobs on the bus, they must be carrying some.
And how about the lady waiting in the bus shelter with me this afternoon on my way home - she's letting her little toddler run around near heavy, speeding traffic. When she finally grabs hold of the kid and calls him a 'little shit', she must have squeezed his arm too tightly because he starts to wail; I figure she must have been injured on the job before because instead of using the hand-across-the-mouth trick she pops a piece of what looked Jolly Rancher candy into his mouth to shut him up. Seems to have worked wonders. But that's getting your kid on the right track early by plugging him full of sugar just to get him to behave, I'm sure he'll be a sweet boy later on in life.
Not long after the kid finished his candy he's up and running again and nearly bails into a man picking up used cigarette butts off the grimy concrete. Now you tell me, how many reasons would the ground be wet in the corner on a hot, dry sunny day? Imagine you are in a downtown core, homeless and drug addicts rule the territory and there aren't too many toilet facilities for their use - why not take your leak in a bus shelter?
Well this kid has got NO BLOODY SHOES ON!!!
Once I got over the fear of this kid stepping on glass shards, I started to feel ill thinking how I refuse to even SIT on the bench for fear of what might be lurking on there and here this kid is practically making out with the dirty bench rolling around on it and then rolling on the concrete.
Clearly this lady is not thinking about the used needles and condoms and poop from all sorts that have once been there, and maybe this was her first time at that particular bus shelter - but it DOESN'T MATTER! Get a CLUE, it's common sense, put some flippin shoes on your child!
I was appalled and I SO wanted to say something, but Big Mama was BIG indeed and she would have killed me, plus it was evident she wasn't in a friendly mood. I decide to leave it and just be near in case Junior decides to take a flying suicidal leap into oncoming traffic.
Another mom shows up with a stroller. She's a young mom and the little girl tucked away in the stroller is freaking out, and yet Mom continues to ignore her child - smart, way to be attentive and act like you actually give a damn( kids remember this stuff, I swear); but then I have to give her the benefit of the doubt, maybe she isn't ignoring her child, maybe she really can't hear the baby screaming, but people across the street are starting to look over and out of nowhere she yanks out the earphones she had jammed in her ears and hollers " SHUT UP!!!"
Perfect, bring your iPod and baby's not there anymore. I'll have to remember that one for the future.
I don't get it - May God help us and save us from this future generation.
Wednesday, June 28, 2006
Tuesday, June 27, 2006
"Can you hear me now? How about now? Can you hear me NOW?
Hang up the phone.
That's right. Hang it up.
Stop hollering, tell your phone-buddy you will have to call them at a better time, press the 'OFF' button and put the damn phone AWAY!!
Oh I'm sorry, did I just upset you?
Well you threw me off the edge the moment I heard your effing phone blaring " My hump, my hump, my hump, my lovely little lumps. ".
What is wrong with people who cannot seem to function without their cellphone glued to their hands and ears? If enough of us make a ruckus about it, will our medical pay for the procedures to have them surgically removed?
I cannot STRESS how I abso-frickin-lutely hate to have some yahoo hollering away into their phone when they are seated beside me, in front or behind me. I wish I could give them a swift kick to the ass and hurl that phone of theirs into oncoming traffic.
And if I hear that bloody Black Eyed Peas song coming out of someone's purse or briefcase, I am going to give them some junk in the trunk by shoving their phone up their ass!
Alright... thanks for listening.
And thanks for not answering that call.
That's right. Hang it up.
Stop hollering, tell your phone-buddy you will have to call them at a better time, press the 'OFF' button and put the damn phone AWAY!!
Oh I'm sorry, did I just upset you?
Well you threw me off the edge the moment I heard your effing phone blaring " My hump, my hump, my hump, my lovely little lumps. ".
What is wrong with people who cannot seem to function without their cellphone glued to their hands and ears? If enough of us make a ruckus about it, will our medical pay for the procedures to have them surgically removed?
I cannot STRESS how I abso-frickin-lutely hate to have some yahoo hollering away into their phone when they are seated beside me, in front or behind me. I wish I could give them a swift kick to the ass and hurl that phone of theirs into oncoming traffic.
And if I hear that bloody Black Eyed Peas song coming out of someone's purse or briefcase, I am going to give them some junk in the trunk by shoving their phone up their ass!
Alright... thanks for listening.
And thanks for not answering that call.
Saturday, June 24, 2006
Women : For Sale
I have heard it said that many women in the sex industry are there because they want to be; they do not work for anyone but themselves, they do not give a cut of their earnings to a madam or a pimp and they truly enjoy sex, so what better career choice is there?
Well I don't know that I am convinced. I say this because I have never met one woman who has worked in the sex trade who was well-adjusted, and did not experience some sort of physical, sexual or mental abuse at the hands of another while she was a child, who has not been under the influence of drugs and alcohol and did not need to fill the void of self-worth. Is there such a woman who is capable of caring for and loving herself, who is capable of going to university to become a doctor but has instead opted to work in the industry? If there is, I would really like to meet her and hear her story.
Today in Vancouver, prostitution is illegal but activists are busy at work trying to change that. There are some non-profit groups formed to help the workers get off the streets and into rehabilitation and there are support groups lobbying for the rights of sex-trade workers who are demanding safer working conditions and for their line of work to be made legal. And of course the ones arguing for the legalization of prostitution are fighting everyone else.
This is where I feel stuck at the crossroads.
I hate everything that prostitution stands for, and yet it is one of the oldest professions known to mankind, it has always existed and always will. And since I know that prostitution is here to stay as long as humans need to fulfill their sexual needs, why not then make it safer for the workers?
When I see a girl walking the street or working a corner, I cannot help but picture her as a child when she was first hurt, betrayed and violated. I hate that these women have come down such a long and hard road that has only led them to the streets selling their bodies to SURVIVE. For us folk who work nine to five jobs, survival is working paycheque to paycheque, getting by with just enough to pay the bills, feed the kids and have a place to rest our heads at night; for the ones who work the streets, surviving is picking the right 'john', hoping he won't beat and leave her for dead, hoping he will pay her the money owed for the dignity she lost years ago; survival is turning tricks for drugs, drugs that once made her feel good have taken over so much they are all that make her feel human.
I admit that I have a hatred towards men for using these women for their own gratification. I would not consider myself anti-man, but I have a feminist streak in me - how could I not with all that one can witness and read on a daily basis about a raping of yet another woman.
Rape.
I still cannot come to a place in my head where I can rationalize selling one's body as their CHOICE. Sure it may be a yes or no, but control comes from all ends, be it addiction or a pimp or even lack of self-worth, to a point where choosing to have sex or not is no longer an option for her.
I remember several years ago my family and some friends gathered together for a barbecue; my aunt and I had gone up to the store and upon our return all the men were on the front porch looking into a telescope focused on some nearby fields and cheering. I asked what it was they were looking at and was guided to the telescope and told where to look; it was there I saw two men being serviced by a prostitute.
I cannot adequately express what I was feeling, I just knew that I wanted to call the police or run down to those fields myself and beat the two men to a pulp. I was naive and am still naive to think that the police could do anything to stop it; after all these three people were consenting adults and would only be asked to take it somewhere else and I believe the stigma is real that if you sell yourself you are 'less than'.
I did a brief stint of volunteer time at a rape/womens crisis shelter, which oddly enough I had to quit because I did not feel safe alone at night when my shifts were scheduled; I remember the coordinator showing us multiple examples of newspaper clippings and news reports on the murders and missing person cases of average women. These women would be contributors to their communities, mothers, wives and pre-dominantly caucasian and would have a considerate amount of media coverage given to their story; now switch to the somewhat recent story of Robert Pickton, a man currently charged with the murders of 26 women, almost every one of them a worker in the sex trade. Prior to this ghastly discovery no mention was made to the disappearances of these ladies, they weren't given top priority for police to do widespread searching and investigating. Of course the families and loved ones of these 26 women have made it loud and clear how this needs to be changed.
I sent away for a book called "Brothel" by Alexa Albert in hopes of getting a better understanding of the lifestyles and choices of women who choose to be in this profession, and if paying taxes like every working citizen gives them a sense of professionalism. In Nevada prostitution is legal and regulated - the brothels in which these women work are carefully guarded, the visitors screened and protection is taken very seriously. Activists here in Vancouver are lobbying for prostitution to be legalized so that it can be regulated, and the women can work under safer conditions and they can be accounted for. It is this reason and for the missing women of the Downtown Eastside that I want to support legalizing prostitution; while I want safer conditions for the women, I wish prostitution could be done away with, but it will never be and some women will never see anything wrong with it and it is their opinions I want to understand. I received the book in the mail today - maybe it will at least help me get halfway there.
Well I don't know that I am convinced. I say this because I have never met one woman who has worked in the sex trade who was well-adjusted, and did not experience some sort of physical, sexual or mental abuse at the hands of another while she was a child, who has not been under the influence of drugs and alcohol and did not need to fill the void of self-worth. Is there such a woman who is capable of caring for and loving herself, who is capable of going to university to become a doctor but has instead opted to work in the industry? If there is, I would really like to meet her and hear her story.
Today in Vancouver, prostitution is illegal but activists are busy at work trying to change that. There are some non-profit groups formed to help the workers get off the streets and into rehabilitation and there are support groups lobbying for the rights of sex-trade workers who are demanding safer working conditions and for their line of work to be made legal. And of course the ones arguing for the legalization of prostitution are fighting everyone else.
This is where I feel stuck at the crossroads.
I hate everything that prostitution stands for, and yet it is one of the oldest professions known to mankind, it has always existed and always will. And since I know that prostitution is here to stay as long as humans need to fulfill their sexual needs, why not then make it safer for the workers?
When I see a girl walking the street or working a corner, I cannot help but picture her as a child when she was first hurt, betrayed and violated. I hate that these women have come down such a long and hard road that has only led them to the streets selling their bodies to SURVIVE. For us folk who work nine to five jobs, survival is working paycheque to paycheque, getting by with just enough to pay the bills, feed the kids and have a place to rest our heads at night; for the ones who work the streets, surviving is picking the right 'john', hoping he won't beat and leave her for dead, hoping he will pay her the money owed for the dignity she lost years ago; survival is turning tricks for drugs, drugs that once made her feel good have taken over so much they are all that make her feel human.
I admit that I have a hatred towards men for using these women for their own gratification. I would not consider myself anti-man, but I have a feminist streak in me - how could I not with all that one can witness and read on a daily basis about a raping of yet another woman.
Rape.
I still cannot come to a place in my head where I can rationalize selling one's body as their CHOICE. Sure it may be a yes or no, but control comes from all ends, be it addiction or a pimp or even lack of self-worth, to a point where choosing to have sex or not is no longer an option for her.
I remember several years ago my family and some friends gathered together for a barbecue; my aunt and I had gone up to the store and upon our return all the men were on the front porch looking into a telescope focused on some nearby fields and cheering. I asked what it was they were looking at and was guided to the telescope and told where to look; it was there I saw two men being serviced by a prostitute.
I cannot adequately express what I was feeling, I just knew that I wanted to call the police or run down to those fields myself and beat the two men to a pulp. I was naive and am still naive to think that the police could do anything to stop it; after all these three people were consenting adults and would only be asked to take it somewhere else and I believe the stigma is real that if you sell yourself you are 'less than'.
I did a brief stint of volunteer time at a rape/womens crisis shelter, which oddly enough I had to quit because I did not feel safe alone at night when my shifts were scheduled; I remember the coordinator showing us multiple examples of newspaper clippings and news reports on the murders and missing person cases of average women. These women would be contributors to their communities, mothers, wives and pre-dominantly caucasian and would have a considerate amount of media coverage given to their story; now switch to the somewhat recent story of Robert Pickton, a man currently charged with the murders of 26 women, almost every one of them a worker in the sex trade. Prior to this ghastly discovery no mention was made to the disappearances of these ladies, they weren't given top priority for police to do widespread searching and investigating. Of course the families and loved ones of these 26 women have made it loud and clear how this needs to be changed.
I sent away for a book called "Brothel" by Alexa Albert in hopes of getting a better understanding of the lifestyles and choices of women who choose to be in this profession, and if paying taxes like every working citizen gives them a sense of professionalism. In Nevada prostitution is legal and regulated - the brothels in which these women work are carefully guarded, the visitors screened and protection is taken very seriously. Activists here in Vancouver are lobbying for prostitution to be legalized so that it can be regulated, and the women can work under safer conditions and they can be accounted for. It is this reason and for the missing women of the Downtown Eastside that I want to support legalizing prostitution; while I want safer conditions for the women, I wish prostitution could be done away with, but it will never be and some women will never see anything wrong with it and it is their opinions I want to understand. I received the book in the mail today - maybe it will at least help me get halfway there.
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