In defense of Canucks

I've visited Vancouver many times in my youth and have always considered it a beautiful and diverse city. In my times clubbing, concert going, shopping, eating, drinking heavily, or just wandering aimlessly I enjoyed being a tourist in a place that offered so much. My friends and I always thought highly of the largest city in British Columbia.

Given the nonsense associated with the riots, many across Canada and the US have formed an unfavorable opinion about Vancouver. While understandable given that they had unrest back in 94 as well, I fail to see how the actions of those few should be a reflection on the entire population. Granted the media only chooses the most sensationalized aspects of the story, which of course the populous wants to hear, but I hate the fact that a few stupid teenagers, who may or may not live in the area, are somehow the standard for judging the community.

I can't speak to how well or poorly the city handled the situation as I wasn't there, but from what I've read the cops and emergency response teams showed the utmost professionalism.

I've seen other media outlets rage against the mainstream as they psychoanalyze riot mentality and attempt to educate us in things we already know, which is pretentious as all hell. We're smart people. We know the ingredients for spoiled people engaging in civil unrest and therefore don't need anyone to remind us why this happened.

What I don't read about is people who have visited Vancouver and can attest to how wonderful the city and it's citizenry can be. Again, as someone who once frequented the area I feel the recent riot in no way changes my opinion on it. In fact, the way the populous has responded to cleaning up the mess has proven to me that many good people reside there.

"Americans know as much about Canada as straight people do about gays. Americans arrive at the border with skis in July, and straight people think that being gay is just a phase. A very long phase." - Scott Thompson