RANT/RAVE (Week of March 18)

The sporting life
Yeah, just wondering if anyone’s got any good protest plans for the Paralympics, now that they’ve started. I’ve got nothing else to do; I don’t have a job, and my mother is looking for any reason for me to get out of the house. So, yeah, if you could maybe post a poster up on a telephone poll or maybe put some graffiti inside the men’s room at the Cambie or something?
Anonymous Rantline caller

Hey, where are all the Paralympics protesters? Does nobody want to take a punch at a Paralympian? I mean, what’s the problem? They’re human beings; we’re all equal; they’re participating in a huge international competition that’s sucking up tons of money that could be better spent on social housing, the health and welfare of people with disabilities, job training... I mean, it’s a fact in this country that if you have a disability, you will have a shorter life expectancy and less of a chance of supporting yourself... I think that people are just showing that they don’t really think of Paralympians as equal because they’re afraid to take a shot at them by protesting the irony that people with disabilities are out there spending tons of money which could improve the lives of thousands of people with disabilities.
Anonymous Rantline caller

No disrespect to the Paralympic athletes, but let’s cut the Paralympic crap. On an economic scale, it’s a non-event. The Olympics were almost a non-event — a multi-billion-dollar party for the local riffraff, very few international visitors. Wake up; that’s the truth! Let’s hear it. Let’s print it. I’m sick of all the shit.
Anonymous Rantline caller

Home advantage
I use the ferries a lot, as I live in Victoria but have to work in Vancouver. I have two suggestions for BC Ferries. People with Vancouver Island addresses should get a discount. The ferries were originally built as an extension of the highway, and I should not have to pay the same as every fat-headed tourist to go to my home, where me and my father were born. It costs me close to $500 a month to ride the boat. I want a discount, damn it, for frequent use, if not for residency. They should also have free wireless internet in the parking lot, so when all the fat-headed tourists are clogging up our ferries, I can at least use my laptop during the two-sailing wait to write rants to the WE.
Scott

Colour blind
I’m really pissed off, but not surprised, at how ignorant some people are. During the Olympics, I visited a lot of venues with my husband and four kids, and while most people were pretty accepting of my family, some gave me and my husband dirty looks. One person even asked me if I needed help and offered to call 911 when my husband and I had a little disagreement in public over how much I paid for a specialty coffee. We settled it quickly and made up with a kiss.

I’m a third-generation Chinese American woman — I don’t speak a word of Mandarin or Cantonese; sorry to disappoint — who has relocated to beautiful B.C. from Los Angeles with my husband of 11 years and our kids, and it must come as a big surprise to some people that my husband is a black man. My husband and I have loved each other from the first day we met, so why is our union a problem? My in-laws love me and my children, and my parents and sister think that I’m blessed to be married to such a great man who my kids think is the greatest dad in the whole world. Contrary to what people have said to me recently, my husband doesn’t beat me, nor does he ever spank or “whup” my children, and he’s never been arrested. He’s never cheated on me, and he holds a very well-paying job...

So, if people are bothered by the fact that I’m a Chinese American who is married to a black American and we are happy, healthy, wealthy, and living the American dream — even in Canada — that’s just too damn bad. Love comes in all colours, and I’m not going to divorce my husband and abandon my children because of some people’s stupid comments and lack of decency.
Anonymous