HSBC Celebration of Assholes

I just got back from the fireworks, they are still going on, I lasted about 15 minutes before I got too angry with the countless people with no regard whatsoever for the people around them. I was standing close to a group of teenage boys who were more concerned with their cell phones and smoking than they were with the fireworks.  They also seemed compelled to yell the word “fuck” quite a lot. Also earlier in the show there was another group of young people (probably in their late teens) who were not watching the show at all really but rather were listening to music on a boom box and dancing. It shocks me just how stupid and rude people can be.

I was standing there, watching the fireworks, getting increasingly annoyed and wondering how aggressive I could be in confronting any number of these idiots without getting myself into trouble. The sad reality is that it is nearly impossible to confront someone and backup your words with actions without getting into some sort of criminal trouble. I think that you should be excused from prosecution when you smack someone who you first asked very nicely to cease being a disruptive asshole, but this is not the way that our criminal justice system operates. If you hit someone who is being an obnoxious asshole you are still held to account.

Even further compounding my frustration was the large number of police standing about and doing nothing at all to encourage people in the crowd to be respectful of those around them. The police just all stand together at intersections, seemingly chatting amongst themselves, doing nothing to help with crowd control. I am just glad that I was down at the fireworks by myself, and not with family, it would be truly embarrassing to have children exposed to the kind of language and rude behaviour that is everywhere at the fireworks.

Just a little note, I was at the fireworks alone because I live about 2 minutes walk from English Bay. I have little to no interest in the fireworks but will usually walk down the street at about 9:50 PM to catch the show, there is really nothing else to do when the fireworks are on as they create so much noise.

It would be nice if the police would do more to control the crowd. Decent folks are subjected to a barrage of rude and disruptive behaviour and are unable to do anything about it. I understand fully that it would create chaos if people stood up for themselves and confronted all these assholes, perhaps even smacking a few of them around, but it would sure feel good to do it. Instead, I sit here, still angry, but not confronting anyone, instead I rant hopelessly to no one. Yay fireworks.