News of the riot has spread far and wide – an international embarrassment for Vancouver – and nearly everyone has an opinion on the matter ranging from, “Let’s not be hasty – let’s allow the law to deal with these hooligans properly.” to, “String them all up by their toenails and let the firing squad have them.”

I sit closer to the “let the law deal with them” side myself – though I’d like to see some creativity in the punishments (and not the sort that involves bamboo slivers or waterboarding – but I will get to that).

While the riots were (and are) shocking and awful, what I am amazed by now is the use of cellphones and social media to record and “out” the villains who partook in the rioting. There are hundreds, maybe thousands, of pictures of the riot, and nearly all of the pictures show other people taking pictures or video recordings at the same time. The rioters have been caught from every angle as have a brave few who tried (and sometimes succeeded) in stopping some of the mayhem and violence.

I know that cellphone cameras and other personal devices capable of recording are legion; everyone has one. Even my cheap little cellphone will take a picture or a video – and these devices are often used to upload status updates to Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr, blogs of every kind, wikis, YouTube, and dozens of others. The use of social media is so prevalent that it has become a part of everyday life for most people, and nearly all of the rioters allowed their faces to be photographed as they cheered on the destruction or participated in it. They didn’t just get caught running out of stores with loot – many of them stopped and posed as though it were a photo op on the red carpet, as though they were celebrities!

Some of that mindset can be chalked up to feeling anonymous in such a huge crowd – especially when fueled by liquor and the collective adrenaline rush of so many people running amok. Some of this, I think, can also be attributed to being very used to having the things you do recorded for posterity and posted on Facebook, Flickr and the like – being photographed while looting a store, or setting a police car on fire was probably just another photograph to many. A few misguided idiots used these social platforms to brag that they were helping to make history! They were excited, and even proud it seems, to be able to say, “Yeah, I was there – I got hurt; I smashed some stuff up.” It’s a good story to tell, a wild anecdote to share with friends and – I guess – admirers.

These same photos and videos are now being used to “name and shame” the rioters on the Internet in just about every way conceivable – with absolutely no thought other than hunting them down and making them pay. Worse, it’s not just the rioters themselves who are being vilified – their parents, friends, employers and schools are also being raked across the coals. Names and addresses have been published with no regard for the safety of the people who live or work at those addresses. Families have received death threats – it must be the parent’s fault. These young adults, these educated men and women with jobs and rent to pay and ties to the community, would never have done these things if their parents hadn’t been so slack in their duty! Employers have been soundly told off and assured that their business will no longer be frequented – after all, who would shop at a store where the employer was so foolish as to hire a person without first posing interview questions regarding their behaviour in a hypothetical riot?

I’m not saying these rioters aren’t guilty – they are. They are guilty as hell, no question. I firmly believe they should be punished for their stupidity. However, I don’t agree with all the racist comments and threats the rioters have received – even the ones I think have made rather insincere apologies. They will be punished under the law – but I have a feeling no punishment outside of a public whipping and deportation of some kind is going to satisfy the people calling for blood out there.

I don’t recall where I read this (and if anyone finds the source, please point me to it so I can credit them properly) but, one person pointed out that even when the courts have meted out punishment to the instigators and participants of this riot, even when the law says they have paid their debt to society (whatever form that may take), they will continue to be punished online. The photos, the videos, the hateful comments and threats will be there forever, cached somewhere for all time. They will always be “that dude who lit the truck on fire” or “that woman who stole purses from the Coach store” – easy to find by simply Googling their names. That’s a punishment that keeps on giving.

Future employers, friends, lovers etc. will be able to Google a name and see the terrible things these people did. The punishment will be ongoing, probably for the rest of their lives. In conjunction with whatever punishment the courts give out, is that not enough?

Over the last couple of days, I’ve read a few apology letters from the rioters themselves (rioters who turned themselves in to police), and while I am impressed that they owned up to their misdeeds and will be appropriately punished by the law, I found the apologies themselves a little lacking – particularly in the case of one young lady who started out with a very thorough apology to absolutely everyone, and then followed it up with a lengthy justification of her actions.

Here are few excerpts (original spelling, grammar and formatting has been left intact):

Why don’t I think I deserve all this treatment?

Because for one, I’ve admitted to my mistakes, two, I am ready to deal with the consequences in a judicial manner, and three, because (may I remind you that) I am responsible for theft – a fairly minor action compared to vandalism and arson. Please remember and understand that I am not responsible for the riot.

I did not vandalize any buildings.
I did not set fire on anything.
I did not break any glass.
I did not instigate the riot.
I did not physically harm anybody.
I did not jump on any cop cars.
I did not even plan on being in the riot.

On any regular day I would not condone looting.

However, at the time of the riot everything just seemed so right.

At the time, being a part of the riot was simply to fulfill the adrenaline rush I was looking and hoping for – an adrenaline rush that I previously got from post-winning games: hugging randoms, dancing on the streets, honking car horns non-stop, and high-fiving just about everybody.  In the same way that everybody enjoyed collectively showing pride in our team, it was enjoyable to express my disappointment in a collective manor.

I had no intentions of defiling the city.  I love Vancouver as much as you do – I’ve lived here since I was 7 months old.  But in my immature, intoxicated perspective all I saw was that the riot was happening, and would continue happening with or without me, so I might as well get my adrenaline fix.

She also says that stealing a pair of men’s size 42 dress pants from Black & Lee was “purely fun” and justifies that too:

…My train of thought at this point was that “the place is already broken into, most of the contents of the store have already been stolen, so what difference does it make if I take a couple things?”

She uses the riots as a very misguided way to show her “feminist” side and roundly castigates all those misogynists out there:

Here’s another thing that bothers me: why is everybody so surprised that a female partook in the riot?  What is with this attitude that females are incapable of doing what men can do?  Maybe it takes an event like this to show you misogynists that woman are fully capable of anything you can do.  And if my actions lead to that revelation in your obscure little heads, then maybe it’s a good thing that I partook in this event.

This part really got to me. I agree that her actions in the riot were equally stupid to the actions of the men taking part in the riot – but that hardly makes her a feminist. A public apology for participating in a riot is not the right time to call yourself a feminist for participating in said riot. It was most certainly not a good idea that she partook in that travesty – her involvement doesn’t send any kind of good message to anyone whatsoever.

On the bright side, she did try to rescue some trees:

I am majoring in Conservation Biology at [redacted].  I strongly belirve in ecological conservation and sustainability.  That night, I saw a few  people that were trying to knock trees down.  So what did I do?  I yelled at them, saying “Pleaaseee, not the treees!!!!”  And what did they do?  They stopped.  And I felt like a hero.

A hero who participated in a riot, looted a store and laughed about it on film. Brilliant.

Her attempts to explain her actions (I still think it reads like a justification) gives me little reason to believe in the sincerity of her apology – but she’s made it. So, now we wait for the courts to punish those caught red-handed and those who turned themselves in – and I hope that punishment is more than a mere slap on the wrist and a fine, but more creative than jail time. Here’s what I would like to see:

Community service

And not just picking up garbage downtown or serving food at a shelter either. I’d like to see these fools working with the businesses they destroyed. A couple of unpaid retail shifts a week to help pay for the damage and insurance deductibles, along with a direct apology to the store owners and staff. I would also like to see them clean up after other major events in Vancouver – the Festival of Lights, any parades,  and any other large gatherings of any kind where people litter copiously. It might give them some small idea of how awful it is to clean up other people’s messes.

Counseling

I know, there are psychologists who say that it wasn’t entirely the rioters fault – that there is such a thing as mob mentality, and it is possible to get caught up in it and do something really stupid. I’m not even necessarily disagreeing (I haven’t got a psych degree, what do I know?) but I still think the people who are charged should have to undergo a year of counseling by a licensed psychologist or psychiatrist and learn to truly accept their actions (no excuses of any kind!) and learn proper empathy and compassion for other people and other people’s belongings. I also believe that they should have to refrain from drinking during this time. If alcohol was that much of a factor, then clearly, these people do not understand what “drink responsibly” actually means. Until they do, no alcohol. Period.

Making reparations

Financially, some of this can be covered with community service as I stated above, but I would also like for those caught and punished to spend some time visiting with those injured or affected by the riots. This includes in person apologies to law enforcement, medical staff and all the individuals negatively hurt by this incident. Perhaps looking into the eyes of the man who was beaten outside of the Bay, or at the four year old girl whose father was punched in the face trying to protect her and get her out of the riot area, or at the people in hospital with cuts, bruises, stab wounds, burns and broken limbs would help them understand the true extent of their participation. It wasn’t just a pair of pants you stole (or a purse, or a mannequin leg, or anything else) – you took away people’s sense of safety and community. You contributed to their injuries and fear. If your excuse is, “Everyone else was doing it.”, remember that someone saw you doing it too, and used you as their excuse.

A proper thank you

I would also like to see all those punished for being part of the riot work together to help plan, and put on, a proper and public thank you for those who deserve it: law enforcement, medical staff, city workers, firefighters, the volunteer clean up crew, the brave few who stood up and said, “You can’t do this – not in my city.” to the looters and rioters, the TransLink drivers who did their best to ferry people out of danger, the security staff from various buildings downtown who helped the injured and protected property, the lovely people who helped others get out and helped attend to injuries when paramedics couldn’t get through the crowds, the people who jumped in to defend those being beaten, and even for the police dogs who braved streets of broken glass to help their handlers get things under control.

I think a big, alcohol free, thank you to all these people is in order – put on by those who made it necessary for the aforementioned to put themselves in harm’s way. And, of course, these party planners would also be responsible for the clean up afterwards.

That is what I would like to see – a meaningful punishment that puts them smack in the middle of the community they so recklessly ruined. Let’s not clog up prison cells with these people, or debate for months and maybe even years, over this. Let’s not spend taxpayer money on endless and dreary court hearings – let’s put things back together, hold those responsible personally accountable and ensure that this sort of disgraceful display of juvenile idiocy never happens again.

I knit Keagan a blanket (my first attempt at anything larger than a dishcloth, and it actually looked pretty decent) and I wrote her a letter. I’d been toying with the idea of posting it and finally decided I would. So here it is, my letter to my lovely little niece:

Dear Keagan,

You’re finally here! We’ve all been waiting what seems like forever for you to come, and now that you’re here we all feel compelled to give you presents (and this will happen with great regularity because people LOVE to spoil cute babies).

My present is in the paper grocery bag along with your parent’s Supernatural CD. I would have wrapped it in something fancier, but Canada Post seems to know when you do things up nicely and then they drop your parcel in a puddle.

Anyway, my gift is a blanket that I knit for you. It’s pretty big considering how small you are. And given the heat wave going on in Ottawa, you probably won’t need it right away, but it will be handy come winter as a lap blanket or car-seat liner.

Here’s the really cool part about this blanket though – it’s not just some boring practical gift like socks or underwear, it’s actually a magical gift.

I know, I wouldn’t believe me either normally, but this really is a magical blanket.

Here are some of the uses I’ve discovered so far:

1. It makes a very comfortable flying carpet. That being said, if you’re off gallivanting in the Himalaya’s, do NOT let any yeti you meet use it. Yetis shed like mad and their hair is really hard to wash out – and this is a very washable flying carpet. Also, if some old guy in Cairo with a red hat and a cane offers you a bag of so-called ‘magic beans’ as trade for the carpet – say no and walk away. He’s a crafty one.
2. A very warm superhero cape. You’ll want to build up to really heroic feats though. Rescue a kitten in a tree a few times first and then maybe move on to rescuing folks in evil secret lairs. Lots of heroes think they can just start out big, but really, it’s like any other job – you start small, learn the ropes and work your way up. You’ll also find this cape great for rescuing people who got trapped in the Alps because they thought it would be fun to re-enact The Sound of Music. Try not to judge them too harshly, they can’t help being that stupid.
3. A small, but cozy, teddy bear fort. You’ll need two sticks and some string too, which I didn’t include because Canada Post won’t let me mail sticks. Something about them being a dirty safety hazard. Absolute rot in my opinion. If any of your bears start making lame excuses about needing to use the blanket to protect them from monsters, give them the blanket anyway; then follow them when they all sneak off to the annual Teddy Bear’s Picnic. You won’t taste better honey or sweets anywhere and the blanket does a fine job of keeping curious ants out of the custard.
4. DO NOT let your parents know about this one! This is secret information I’m about to divulge. Now, this blanket’s most useful magic is its ability to hide things. You’ll discover that hiding stuff under your bed when you’re told to “clean up that pig-pen you call a bedroom” will drive your parents absolutely wild. I could never see the big fuss either, I mean it’s all in one spot and easy to find right? Parents lose their minds over this sort of clear-headed logic

So, when you’re cleaning up, stuff everything under the bed as usual, and then put the blanket over the stuff. The blanket will create the illusion that there is nothing there – it’ll blend itself and all your things right into the floor.

That’s a very handy trick if you like collecting snakes, snails, rocks, cute toads or sticks and other things that destroy vacuum cleaners and make mothers shriek like old tea kettles. Trust me on this, I know.

That’s all I’ve discovered so far about the blanket, let me know if you find any new uses for it!

Welcome to the world little Firefly – I’ll try and visit just as soon as I possibly can.

Love,

Auntie R.

(and Uncle Joe too, though, he was no help at all with the knitting)

Don’t worry, I’m not typing this as I take my vows – I’m not that wired in.

I can just imagine what our wedding Tweets would look like:

Rambleicious: OMG!! I’m married!!1!

Joe: OMG – I’m having her committed!

I am writing this in the past to post in the future so you can read it in what is now your present.

Yes – I am a time travelling bride.

And…

OMG!! I’m married! Woo!!