Thu 1 Sep 2005
One more time I have crossed the line now you won’t be mine anymore.
Posted by Jeff under Jeff's ThoughtsIt’s been awhile again. I’ve been so busy that I am now gone from Thunder Bay and am in London, moving my brother in. Tomorrow I’m going to Windsor. I get to make a stop atPelee Island though, and go on a wine tour 
Oh! I passed 500 unique visitors too!
Either way, I’ve been meaning to comment on something I observed when I got home. Last year I wrote an article in my high school newspaper about the Hogarth Fountain in Waverly Park, just outside my high school in Thunder Bay. The link has a brief history and a photograph. My talk in the article was how under appreciated it is and how there had been alot of vandalism that forced the Winter protection (a large wooden box) to remain on it well into the summer. Recently, another act of vandalism was taken against the fountain. It is now closed again, and will not be opening until a protective grate is added. It is quite sad to see that this is how much respect some people have for history and great monuments. So much money was spent to restore the fountain, and all that money (and even more for repairs) is just wasted now.
As I was sitting at Hillcrest Park, on one of my last days left in Thunder Bay, overlooking the Sleeping Giant, and reading The Da Vinci Code (Which I’ve owned for a while and haven’t had time to read until recently), I witnessed another sad sight. A family, with who pre-teen children arrived beside my vehicle and jumped out. They had come to check out the view from the park and to see the war memorial (mentioned in the link). Ont of the children went over to the canon mounted beside the memorial, hopped over the retaining wall and looked inside the barrel. “Why Hello there!”, she exclaimed and her brother asked what she saw. “Trash and cigarette butts”, she replied. How lovely. A monument for fallen war heroes and it was filled with trash and cigarette butts. Very respectful. (For Christine’s sake; it’s sarcastic)
So, this family, visiting Thunder Bay possibly for the first time, gets this new image. A dirty, disrespectful city. This is parallel to my visit to Hamilton a few years back where there was trash everywhere in the streets, gangs building up at night on the sidewalk, and a man holding a neighbourhood hostage by strapping high explosives to a police officers home. (that was a crazy weekend :S). While I might not be very please with Thunder Bay myself, I take personal offence to the lack of respect that people are giving, both to history, public property, and war heroes. Heck, if this keeps up, Thunder Bay will only be knows as a dead port and forestry town, who killed Terry Fox, downed a Snowbird, and disrespects war veterans. And you wonder why I tell people not to visit Thunder Bay. Not to long ago it was the violent crime capital of Canada! And it really deserves it’s reputation title from everything I see going on in the news there.
I guess that the thing that will upset most people is the fact that there is disrespect for war veterans. My grandfather served in the Korean war, and has been reduced to having to fill out forms that take 18 months to process just to get a hearing aid. I have never been a war supporter, and am not a big fan of the military. The fact is, though, is that in Canada, or military is not the same as say…the US (duh duh duh). I was initially very upset when my best friend joined the Naval reserves. Now, I know it means alot to him, and I now have more respect for the military (knowing that there must be a few more highly intelligent and loyal people in the military as well). Generally I believe that the average person who enters the military is below average intellect, and usually has other issues that they deal with, that drive them to the military as a community. I read a globe article about a year ago which confirmed this in a study that was done. It’s good to know that there are intelligent people there though. And those few, Like Lyle, deserve respect.
Hmm…nothing more on my mind (at least on this topic) so I’ll post away. I’ll post next when I’m settled in Windsor.
Random Wikipedia Article: Crown Royal
Currently Listening to: This Week In Tech Podcast
September 1st, 2005 at 9:46 pm
Well, Jeff, I appreciate that little blurb about the military - knowing some of the people in the military, I’d agree that there are some . . . low-intelligence individuals within the ranks. However, I know for a fact, that there are many respectable people. They have worked hard, and given to Canadian society, upholding the values of the Canadian military. Thank you for realising that.
On to your other subject, I truly agree that Thunder Bay’s citizens do not respect their community in the way they should. From something as “innocent” as littering, to something as active as tagging walls on historical buildings (for example, the graffiti on the walls of Port Arthur Collegiate Institute) almost everyone in this city has contributed to the deterioration of the reputation of Thunder Bay. Our image is terrible - we appear as people who don’t care about our surroundings - even though we have some of the most beautiful scenery in Canada, if not the world. We have to respect our environment, as well as our communities, if we want to improve the image of our city and its citizens.
That’s my thought for now. I look forward to the next edition of “Jeff’s Thoughts.”
September 3rd, 2005 at 12:23 am
I doubt that Thunder Bay is any worse than any other city for people being disrespectful. However I believe I’m not supposed to let my negative view of people in general show.
People need to have more respect for their environment in general - this includes people around them, themselves, buildings, etc. No one wants to take responsibility, and the argument that “everyone else is doing it” seems to prevail. Or the “what difference does this make?” (That one was favoured by my classmate who would counterfeit transit tickets. Or those who would use someone else’s bus pass).
And I’m not quite that bad about sarcasm, not normally.
Right?
September 4th, 2005 at 2:46 am
I’ve always been impressed how generally how clean the Waterloo campus is. But I know that it’s really just because of Team Garbage spiriting away all the trash in the wee hours of the morning.
But there’s definitely that “everyone else” thing, too. When everything’s spotless, folks are more likely to aim for a can.
It’s just a load of trouble to have and maintain that kind of attention.
September 4th, 2005 at 9:31 am
That’s a good point Mike. One interesting thing is that I’ve only seen one graffitied washroom stall here. Everywhere else is clean (which is a surprise), but that one is COVERED. Same principle.
September 4th, 2005 at 4:05 pm
Wait, wait… girls do graffiti too?
Weeeeeeird…..
September 5th, 2005 at 1:11 pm
Girls most certainly do do graffiti. I think the the walls of girls’ bathroom stalls are more covered in graffiti than in guys’ washrooms. But it’s always useless stuff like “I love so-and-so” or “So-and-so is a whore.” etc.
September 6th, 2005 at 1:47 pm
I would like to agree with Christine in that I doubt that Thunder Bay is any worse than any other city across Canada, though it is still a shame.
As for the comment about the military, the few people that I know that are involved are generally really great people. I think that to say they are below average intelligence is reaching, and to be blunt, rude. Not everybody is as smart as you are hunky jeffwey.
And lastly about the graffiti in the girls washroom. Yes there is a lot of it. And actually there are some interesting things to be found. In one particular bathroom at Lakehead University there is actually a discussion that I find interesting. It originated as a comment “Is there life without God?”. Me being me did contribute to this. I brought up Aethism, and plant life, and other religions that do not worship “God”, which in turn sparked more conversations. I think that although the placement of this discussion was unfortunate, that it was a worthwhile conversation. Plus, I proved someone wrong which was nice. Hehehe.
To be honest, I don’t see much of the “So-and-so is a whore” stuff, but there is a lot of the “I love so-and so”…which kind of concerns me (why would you want to declare your love for someone in a bathroom stall??!! and what were you doing at the time that you decided to declare your love?).
That is all for now, and I am looking forward to more conversations, both here and in the bathroom stall.
September 6th, 2005 at 8:02 pm
Actually the one that I saw that was covered in graffiti here was a political conversation. I’m not sure where it started, but I think it was someone complaining that voting doesn’t do any good, and there were several generations of response to it. It was quite interesting to read.
September 7th, 2005 at 12:42 am
All you need to do is go in there with a camera and BAM, instant art-piece.
I can see it now– a gala exhibit “The Voices of Tomorrow.” Huge blowups sitting around on tripods… some of them with slogans decrying corruption in the government, others blaring the angst-filled scrawls of a love-lorn teenage spirit.
It would be huge.