AHHH…VANCOUVER
Today, as I stepped onto the elevator upon arriving at work, one of my co-workers asked me why I was coming from a different direction than usual. I said that I still lived in the West End but that I’m dogsitting in Gastown. He then asked me if all the “drug addicts” bothered me in a rather admonishing tone. I was a bit floored by the question and didn’t know how to answer.
Flustered, I stuttered out “er, no…those people are just part of the neighbourhood.” The truth is, I was downright enraged that anyone would even presume my feelings on the subject. Because, in reality, to me those so-called “drug addicts” are people, first and foremost, who suffer from substance abuse problems (possibly among other sufferings).
Oh and I almost became splattered roadkill while crossing a sidewalk yesterday. Yup, I had a walk signal, but perhaps Mr. Police Officer should’ve been paying less attention to the computer in his squad car and more attention to the road on which he was driving.
/rant
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4 Comments
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Nearly splattered by a squad car? Can’t say that every day…
And as for addicts, it bothers -me- that our society produces or helps produce people in such dire straits, then does so little to help them. It doesn’t just bother me, it disgusts me. Once I move out of this darned small town and get a job that isn’t 24-hours a day, 8 days a week, I’ll be volunteering my spare time to help out a little more often than I’ve been able to so far.
(The NIAC people are awesome, BTW.)
Was he presuming, or was it truly a legitimate question? “does X bother you?” seems to be a fairly neutral question. The only way to make it more neutral is to simply ask “do you have any opinion about X?” and that’s getting silly and pedantic as you clearly -do- have an opinion about the matter. I wasn’t there, and the internet poorly conveys the finer nuances of expression, but I like to take questions like those at face value and not give in to whatever the questioner’s ulterior motives for asking the question may be.
There’s a photographer on Flickr that you may not have known about, who photographs and interviews homeless people all over the place. His photography is stunning, and the stories are compelling:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/stoneth/
— Alice.
That’s a good point, Alice. The way it was asked of me, however, was more pointed as if to say “Ugh, I bet it bothers you as much as it would bother me.” So true that society creates/contributes to problems that it clearly refuses to fix.
You’re right about the internet; it’s absolutely horrible for conveying context and intonation.
WOAH! police officer….they suck. AND……people suck too. However, if your argument is “they’re people too” couldn’t you say that about the man that pissed you off in the first place???
touché
You’re becoming a geek
That /rant was classic
Looking forward to seeing you!