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A place for Writing 12 students to read each other's writing, to critique, to suggest, to improve.
About Me
- Brad
- Former adult teacher who loves island beaches. Happy homebody and family man; once devoted dog owner, now without Tashi, my Tibetan Terrier. I prefer the absurdity of the imagination to the absurdity of imagining nothing.
6 comments:
Rant
The game of “chicken” (once restricted to cars and made famous by James Dean) has evolved into a new walking game. Here’s how to do it. As you walk down a busy sidewalk, pretend not to notice people approaching on the sidewalk. Better yet, adjust your course and make sure you are heading directly for another person or couple. Don’t give ground! To move over is to lose the game. Instead, make the other person or couple move for you. If, for some reason, the other couple doesn’t want to play, come to a stop directly in front of them. That way, you can still win by forcing them to get out of the way. Another interesting variation involves the sudden, but not quite, swerve. Make sure, in this case, to “accidentally” bump shoulders or elbows with the offending person. Enjoy the new game of chicken on any Vancouver sidewalk, but for real fun try downtown on Robson Street on a busy Sunday afternoon.
Rave
I’ve come to the conclusion that I can learn a thing or two from the Mexican people. In Mexico, the average income is about six thousand Canadian dollars a year. At the resort where I stayed, the night maintenance man told me that he was paid one dollar an hour to work from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. Eight dollars a shift! Yet, no matter where I went, I was greeted warmly by people. Often, it caught me by surprise and I felt bad about it. I’d be passing someone and out of the blue they would cheerfully say “Hola!” or “Buenas Dias.” To which I would reply the same, of course. That, and a warm smile would often accompany the greeting. I felt welcomed, even though I make more in about 10 minutes than the night man makes in a shift. As a result, I became a regular tipper at all the bars and restaurants at the resort. Usually, I would tip a dollar or two and came to realize how important those tiny amounts would be to a person making only a dollar an hour. To make it even better, the average Mexican appeared genuinely surprised and grateful for the tip, thanking me warmly every time. Amazing! Makes you wonder why all the sour faces up here in Vancouver, doesn’t it? (note that I used to work as a bartender and my son and daughter have both worked in service industries where people give tips; once you’ve done that, it makes you a better tipper!)
Rant (Litterers)
I was passing by Kingsway, I saw several opened letters scattered on the side walks. I wonder who these litterers are and how many are they? How do they behave inside their own house? The reasons I asked this to myself is, probably that is how they were trained inside their house, so that is why even outside their home -- it became habitual to them. These people too, became unaware of what is clean and what is messy all about. They love to mess any place or sometimes vandalize the wall of the decent buildings and bus waiting shades around.
I really hate litters whenever I walk anywhere. How I wish I have a time to teach people not to litter or scatter their candy wrappers, cigarette butts, empty bottles of liquor or canned drinks on the road.
These litters can pollute the surroundings and it would give a bad impression to our country and its citizen. Any place would become ugly if people do not adhere to the environment policies; our place would likely not be a better place to live in.
I remember when I went to Singapore, regardless it is a small country; but, the people are aware of not littering as it is punishable by law. They would like to preserve their country and their aim is to be known worldwide as one of the cleanest countries regardless of the size. It is true that Singapore is one of the cleanest countries as I have been there. How I wish, we can re-educate some of our country men not to litter and to continue to preserve the cleanliness of this beautiful British Columbia.
Rave
When i was new here in Canada, i was so amazed of the bus drivers how they give respect to the old people. He greeted the old people, "Good morning or Good afternoon". The driver lowers the floor lift so that the old people with scooter can go inside the bus, then the bus driver will tighten and locked the belt of a scooter or see to it the wheel chair is locked.
I also noticed that when someone faints, the bus driver is knowlegeable of what to do during emergencies. Isn't it a wonderful feeling when someone cares and making lives better? Although, i haven't reached that age i am hoping that i would be respected and treated well by any of those bus drivers here in Canada while riding a bus.
-Rave:
No more nagging, yes! No more calling me to have meals, yes! No more bedtime, yes! No more
It all happened when my mom went away for a month for her teeth in Korea. I can basically do anything I want to do. I can skip eating meals, I can listen and crank up the volume and sing along to Korean songs as much as I like, I can eat junk food whenever I want, I can eat noodles, and most of all, I can Twit, and Facebook to my friends. Yup, this is the life, no more nagging!
-102 words.
Rant
Escalator etiquette is in low supply on Vancouver’s motorized stairs. There always seems to be one or two inconsiderate persons who block the left side flow that wants to keep moving ahead. Either in a hurry or wanting to get in some exercise time, they have to wait it out because someone is standing next to his friend chatting away or just plain doesn’t care. Usually a tap on the shoulder, or a polite “excuse me,” wakes them from their self-induced trance or conversation and they move over to the right, freeing up the rush of traffic that actually values their time. Some of Vancouver’s Sky Train escalators are quite long and take a significant amount of time to ride. Having the left side clear allows you to have a choice. Maybe, we need more signage reminders near the escalator entrance. All I know is that these “flow-blockers” need to be more conscious and more courteous to the more active users around them.
Rant
I have to say I don't like graffiti. It is not the act of vandalism that I hate, but the disturbing content that presented to me. Very few of graffiti I saw in Vancouver area were artistic; most of them, on the other hand, were dark colored and absurd. I have seen those scribbled paintings on sidewalk walls, which are usually located under bridges or near railways. They looked like 5-year-old did it but in a twisted way. I felt horrified when I saw those negative colors: dark-green, pale-violet, sandy-brown, deep-red, midnight-blue, dim-grey, and pitch-black—all entangled together like a dying beast. Is this really an art? I truly doubt about it. I am not here talking about legal issue about graffiti vandalism, I only want to show my feelings of dislike. When people walk on the street, they are supposed to see beautiful scenes like blue sky, flowers, trees, grass, and creeks; graffiti are definitely not their expectation. So I have some words to say to graffitists: Instead of adding scars to this city, draw something bright and beautiful, if you really want to show your talent.
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