Vancouver's Loss

I was in the middle of writing a blog about killing plants the day before yesterday but you lucky people get to wait for that one.  My daughter asked me tonight what "passionate" means.  I told her it meant "to feel very, very strongly about something".  Well, I am passionate about what happened last night in our own backyard (Vancouver), so I'm going to address it in a bit of different manner than some would think reasonable.

Yesterday, myself, my husband and my daughter muddled our way in to town amongst the unusually hectic traffic (going in to Vancouver).  Backed up passed 200th Street at 3pm, the majority of vehicles we passed had Canuck's paraphernalia on the dashboard, on the passengers, flags out the windows etc. It was reminiscent of last years' Olympics.  Entire communities rallying together.

We ran through the quietest Ikea we have ever seen, and then booted it to our local sushi joint to watch Game 7 of the Stanley Cup between the Vancouver Canucks and the Boston Bruins.  There was no doubt our Canucks would win the cup at home.  Their record had forecast such - winning every home game in the playoffs.  Summary aside, they lost.   I will leave that to the sportscasters.

As we sat with friends in our private "VIP" tatami room, we watched the news unfold live - a car set on fire, groups of people turning over another vehicle, windows being smashed, newspaper boxes turned over, people cheering all of this on, looting, swearing and taunting etc.  The police shut down all transportation to the downtown corridor. 

The four of us adults watched in complete disbelief and sadness.  Thank goodness the coverage was limited on the channel we were watching, as my daughter was in full-view.  It was like a kick in the gutt to see everything helplessly unfolding.  

A few things surfaced through the day following, today.  Being somewhat local to the area, I believe we were all jaw-dropped.  The news reports today stated it was a couple dozen youth that truly instigated the riots.  People within the riots questioned why it took so long for the police to respond.  The rest of us went on and on, reeling in what to make of all of this, disgusted at "those people".  What else can we do?

As a society, nobody knows what to do- whether it be during the riots, or following.  Do we separate ourselves from "those people" who did it?  Express our disgust for what happened?  Is that enough?  How does that help?  What does that bring us?  As a society, a community, it doesn't do very much.

My feelings on the issue are that it goes well beyond a couple dozen people.  What happened last night started by the hands of a small group, but it grew because of hundreds who participated, facilitated and stood by and watched.  There were hundreds who went and knew it was going to happen and thought it was cool to be a part of it.  The videos and pictures say it all.  That is what I have huge issue with.  This tells me there is something very wrong with our society.  If a fire starts from a spark, it can not survive, nor grow without fuel present, in this case, the bystander who eggs them on, or even gives interest in such horrible actions. 

Three months and four days ago, an earthquake with a magnitude of 9.0 rocked a nation.  A tsunami followed wiping out tens of thousands of people.  Then a nuclear emergency (since upgraded to the worst nuclear accident on record) cleared out entire communities.  No looting.  No rioting.

We lost the Stanley Cup.

Within our world, really messed up things happen.  I believe they happen to ground us as a race.  To restore balance whether it is to hold a light for individuals to strive towards, or for us bear witness to unjust things to learn from.  Whether it be from country to country, region to region, family to family, or anything in between.  Either way, we are meant to learn and move forward.

We are a society.  We can no less point our fingers and turn our backs on "a few dozen" that instigated, and more importantly the hundreds that cheered them on and stood by, that facilitated millions of dollars of damage, any easier than we can just disown the wacky family member that is a little off.  We all have a part in this and turning our backs is not the answer.

We all know, win or lose, the riots would have happened - it had little to do with the game itself.  People wouldn't have folded up their balaclavas and tucked away their gas cans had the Canucks won.  Let's also assume that within those crowds, people knew something was brewing.  I will dare to say that beyond the handful who instigated, it was the hundreds and thousands who stood around that collectively had the power to turn the tides, but instead facilitated it.

Perhaps it is time for Vancouver to lead, and surpass the victimization of what happened yesterday to creating a society that will never stand for that again.  Perhaps our leaders (whether sports-figures, or politicians) will voice their own positive peer pressure for having pride and respect for our own communities BEFORE the events.  Perhaps police will instill protocols for people to leave the riot zones, and if you can not, to move to the sides of the roads and just get down if riots break out.  If those 'dozen' twats that claim to be men (and women) choose to stand and deliver such actions, let them be seen.  Crowds should be aware that it is their duty to clear the way, to leave the areas to assist police and emergency workers to do their job.  It is also the job of police to ensure those people who are not participating have a way out.  Seems pretty logical. 


For the rest of us, it is our job to up the pressure in our society.  To make it known and teach younger generations, not just that this is horrible, but rather to take pride in themselves, to excel for better, to be proud of where they are from, to help fight for what is right in our communities.  As we have seen yesterday, the younger generation has a voice and it is our job to make a shift.  What happened yesterday was not because of a few dozen people.  Had their been clarity in what we as a society would tolerate and more importantly not tolerate, it could not have escalated to that level.

The media reports what has happened.  It is up to individuals to make what will happen next.  Talk with your children, your friends and any youth around you about what happened.  Ask them what they think.  Teach them pride in themselves and where they are from.  Help clean up, not just the downtown area, but your own neighbourhood.  Donate to Canuck Place!  Show your own sportsmanship for a good cause and send a message.  Inject ANY positive energy back in to your community.  Hopefully our community leaders will get their shite together about how to handle 'the next time' in a little more proactive manner.  

Make a difference.  You have the power to, even if you think you don't!