I used to think that this city is pretty accepting and liberal but the events of this afternoon has just changed that...
It's ironic that just a few hours ago in a sociology class I defended the fact that rampant racism is a thing of the past especially on the west coast BC, and that whoever complains that they're "discriminated" against are overstating the facts
but a searing reminder of the reality of some people out there just hit me today in the form of road rage.
some green pontiac van with your average white mid 20 male at the wheel with his girlfriend or sister and his friend cut me off and I gave them a warning honk. In the US maybe at worst I'll get shot with a .45 for voicing my disdain at having to stand on my brake because someone failed to shoulder check. But no where in NA would I imagine it would result in having someone spit on my car, dump a bottle of gatorade on my car, referring to me with the terms "China man, and chink" or suggesting that I should "go back to China" at a stop light. Maybe he was just demonstrating to his girlfriend that nobody is going degrade his masculinity while he's driving and I calmed myself by saying he's just saying stuff like that cause he's lost it. But I would've thought us west coasters have come a long way from those dark days and that terms like muthaf*(Cker or other assorted (@#)(words are enough for our vocabulary when we lose control.
Anyways, perhaps the most pathetic thing was how they tuck tail and run when I call the cops and they ask my why I wanna call the cops when I wanna play games and I tell them cause I'm a off duty peace officer and I don't carry around my cuffs or baton when I'm off duty. All they could say is "I don't care" and back up and drive off.
Could our city ever be a world class city as long as visitors or even residents are threatened in a way like that? Now I don't think we should ever have the honour to host a world even like the winter olympics... what if somebody runs into thos morons? How will we be portrayed in the world then? It's no wonder everyone LOVES Canada but no one RESPECTS it when you got cowards who have deep seated hatred who runs when their views are challenged.

I was with my friend and his mom in west palm beach going to the mall , and this guy in a white mustang with his girlfriend driving for no reason stuck the middle finger to my friends mom ( she wears a hijab on her head ) , so she goes and pulls up next to him and starts to curse at him and him there laughing wit his middle finger, so i decide to retaliate and stick up both fingers and the guy goes crazy, lmao, i felt proud, i am sure that he gave us the finger since were arab

West Palm can be a nice place too but it has some racists

Ignorant people are everywhere. Pity them. Don't stoop to their level by returning their anger. Walk away proudly, as did Caine in Kung Fu.

Then if they push it, hit them over the head with your baton, and kick their ass in front of their girlfriend.

Seriously, I think altercations are best avoided, and keeping the higher moral ground is more honorable than returning hatred.

Only people with limited intellect, limited verbal skills, and low societal status resort to racial slurs. They are trying to exert some meager sense of dominance in their otherwise meaningless lives.

Just think of it as a visit to the zoo, and take the opportunity to view these animals in their natural habitat.

btw, I heard Vancouver was "the Amsterdam of the West." Right or wrong?

thanks for sharing guys... needed to get it out of my head...
I was surprised I didn't punch him in the face when he dumped that gatorade bottle and I was already having a bad day after my left rear tire was punctured on the sidewall by a wedge of rock and my local tire shop tells me I have to wait a week for a new tire...

about amsterdam of the west, it's pretty much true.... I mean even at work (customs), we hardly press charges on small amounts of marjiuana (but hey don't blame or qoute me if you get denied entry here for carrying weed!), whereas in the states you guys take a stance on "the law is the law". In defense, the reason is that there is simply not the kind of massive law enforcement infrastructure in Canada like you guys have in the states (like your DEA, massive prison systems, etc) and judges often throw out minor drug charges cause we don't have the resource to deal with the amount of ppl who do it (no prisons, not enough parole officers, etc). And that trickles down to the officers on the streets who don't press charges cause they know the courts aren't gonna do a damn thing, and then to the point that the offenders know they cops won't do anything so they do it more and more openly which completes the "cycle". To me, I think that if a law is there, if there's no resources to enforce it, then there's not really a point in keeping that law. And by keeping that law, and letting people break it just further gives bad public opinion of the law, thinking it's irrelevant. And laws are there for the current majority in society, and if society as a whole think the law should change, then I guess the law should change for society. It's just like how drinking and driving laws are changing to become harsher because society's views have changed. If society's views on "soft" drugs are becoming more lienient, then so be it. However, I think we have to be careful in how we measure what "society" thinks because it's most often the vocal few who makes louds nosies to make their voice seem like everyone's (it's like just because ppl aren't protesting against it, doesn't mean they're FOR it). But this is all my personal views, not to be mistaken for official comments by the CBSA!

What an ass- it could happen anywhere, though- I'd be just as shocked if it happened here. I am very sorry that you had to deal with this crap. Some people just don't think about anyone but themselves, and don't know/understand/care how their ignorance affects others.

Yeah, don't worry about 1 a-hole. It doesn't mean the city is full of them.

I didn't know drugs were rampant in Vancouver. That kinda sucks.

When I visited Vancouver, I had a great time, everyone was friendly and, actually, I would love living there.

Don't let 1 idiot bigot ruin your view of the city. There are morons in *every* city.

hey RT... i'm really really shocked that it would go down like that... where the hell were you driving man?? i simply couldn't contemplate that happening anywhere but south of the river (Delta, Surrey, Langley... y'know, out where i live)... insane. i hope you can let it roll off your back...

and as for the stuff about the drugs, well, unfortunately Vancouver is pretty much an amsterdam of North America... skid row characterizes our downtown just as legitimately as our gleaming harbour and highrise hotels... although yes, i couldn't think of a better place to live myself (well, maybe a place where opening a speed shop of my own someday would be a wee bit less risky).

anyhoo, i'm surprised that it happened, and hope you remember that asshole's licenceplate number so i can cut him off if i see him on the freeway some day. :p

btw, are you that titanium grey with the appearance package i see ALL OVER the place, or what??? :D

How about the ahem, nightlife, comparison with Amsterdam? I read the, uh, clubs, were fun too.

hey Wakeech, I think I was the most surprised of all ppl LOL, I thought I drove into some hick town where they were gonna lynch me and tie me to a chain to build some railroads LOL and for the record, I was driving in burnaby (on boundary and lougheed, just on my way to the dealer of all times...)
well I wouldn't call it "rampant"... I mean it's not like dealers are at our kids' school pushing them to use coccaine (but some guy at a bubble tea palce was caught trying to sell pot to ELEVEN YEAR OLDS), I would call the drug problem in vancouver... problematic because on one side you have the vocal human rights group who's against any form of law enforcement action against drug users and the courts don't seem to take drug dealers seriously... but yea if you know where the "bad" areas are and stay away from them, just like every other city, vancouver's a safe place to live (though another story for property crime)
and wakeech, where'd you see that? it could've been me cause I've put 2200kms on it already since the 14th :P

Originally posted by Rotary Titus
wakeech, where'd you see that? it could've been me cause I've put 2200kms on it already since the 14th :P

dude, like everywhere... up and down the freeway, and i actually got a couple pictures of "it" (quite possibly not your car ;)) parked behind the Renaissance hotel down there by all the construction... that was umm... end of Decemberish.

anyways, i still see that same car all over downtown frequently, and has a West End City of Vancouver parking sticker in the window... OH!! i know, about two weekends ago saw it out front of Gold Train Pho (y'know, that 24 hour place on W Broadway right near Cambie), and there was a big group inside... i looked around, and didn't get noticed by anyone (my company was two friends of mine who were rather drunk, and one was getting a bit surly... *sigh* girls, eh??). i was the scruffy white guy getting the two Cafe Su Dah to go. :D

My wife and I go to Vancouver pretty frequently (3-4 times a year). We have only seen one problem the whole time and that was with a couple of drunk hicks from out in the sticks. They were in town doing their best to get in a fight. Needless to say they found it. And just before they were about to find it from me. I was getting ready to deck one of them when the person standing next to me did it first. Then about five other people beat the crap out of them. No guns or knives or anything like that, just a good old fashioned ass whoopin' to two guys that deserved it.

Anyway that is the only time I have ever seen it. Vancouver is usually a very nice place to be. I love it there. And Amsterdam of the West... I think that must be quite stretch. You can't go to a coffe house and say I would like a nice Sativa please. No you can't buy legally but in certain shops you can smoke legally. And there is a nightlife but I am sorry folks it doesn't include legal prostitution. I am not going to get into the debate of what is or isn't moral just reporting the facts.

Doesn't sound like as much fun as I'd heard. Oh, well, back to Vegas!

Vancouver is still a fanastic place. Kamloops etc, you can't ask for anything better. However, as Elara pointed out, this could have happened anywhere. I wouldn't let one inhabitant of your community ruin your enjoyment of the community in general.

And weed isn't *that* horrible of a thing.

Originally posted by cumpressor4u2nv
weed isn't *that* horrible of a thing.

:eek: pothead!!! :eek:

...take your devil weed elsewhere!! we needn't any marijuana cigarettes to enjoy ourselves!! that's why booze is legal ;)

hahaha...

Guys i hear what your are saying but the Gold Coast has its own problems. Being a tourist destination the combination of cheap air fares has caused a situation where on most weekends gangs of youths congregate from all over Australia and come here for rest and recreation, causing havoc, going to nightclubs etc. etc.

Of late we have had different ethnic gangs (Asian, Middle Eastern, European) all trying to dominate and get part of the drug trade that happens in most major cities and tourist resorts.

The local police are shit scared as most of these gang members are armed with weapons including guns. So far they have tried to take over the nightclubs without a great deal of success and are being closely monitored by locals and police.

In my youth, yes there were gangs and drugs, however, they fought with fists, knives and the occasional empty beer bottle but these assholes are carrying 9mm semi auto pistols with magazines holding 15-20 bullets and they aren't shy to use them at random if they have been pissed off.

I don't know what the solution is but i hope that it's sorted out before my kids start going out to Surfers.

Michael

Got any cool pics or websites to recommend of the city?

We stay at a time share when we go up and I will have to take some pics of the view out of our room. It's gorgeous. Can't think of a time that my wife and I have gone that we haven't fully enjoyed ourselves. Everytime we go we try to think of a way to stay forever. It's that beautiful. Kinda why we spend so much time there every year.

Hey Rotary Titus, sorry to read about your misfortune. I am asian as well and am shocked to find this happening in a city that has one of the highest asian population in Canada. I live on the other side of Canada with just several chinese people around and have also been on the receiving end of some racial slurs. There will always be people that don't know any better, no matter where you go I guess :( .

I believe you done the right thing by not retaliating in violence. Few people can react as calmly as you did and that makes you the wiser one... or at least that's what my mom used to tell me ;) haha