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The long long weekend
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- Written by: Rod Boyle
- Category: People
- Hits: 628
The July one, After this, 2 to go... the season should be kicking off. A new waitress has started, no experience, but great with drawing a happy face and writing a little personal message on each bill.
Americans, dickering with me on the exchange rate, I'm offering 25%, I'm the only guy in the Kootenay's other than the Currency exchange that even does an exchange rate, everyone else takes it at par, yet they're arguing, say they can get better in town and I'm thinking where - where in the USA can I go and have them accept Canadian Currency? And if they did, and I had the audacity to dicker over the exchange rate I'd probably be shot. Justly so. But this is the entitled American abroad, most are pleasant, but there's always a few...
And then there's the Plants. Older couple, always good for a toonie no matter how large the bill, and I've drawn the short straw, they're my table. I'm like Jesus on the fucking cross, taking all the hits so the new girl doesn't quit. They're in with guests, another couple, and - fortunately, a rare thing, the guests grab the bill. 20%. Phew, dodged a bullet there. And just as I'm celebrating my good fortune the other lady comes up and presses another $40 in my hand - I assure her, her husband tipped me well, but she'll have none of it - she tells me in a low voice "We know how they tip...".
And summer's officially started.
Capital Punishment, Rebranded
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- Written by: Rod Boyle
- Category: Rants
- Hits: 1143
Canada did away with Capital Punishment in 1976 with Bill C-84. Prior to that Capital Punishment was reserved for planned murders and the killing of Police and Prison Guards.
It seems, when you think about it, fair enough - we have an obligation to protect those who protect us.
But - the myth is that we did away with Capital Punishment. What we did away with was the right to a fair and unbiased trial. Canadian Police - and Calgary Police especially, have executed far more people in the decades following the suspension of Capital Punishment than every were executed with it. Seldom have they been offered the kind of lethal force that justifies it, and never have they been so well prepared with less violent means - with Kevlar Vests, tasers, pepper spray, etc, yet they continue to kill people at a rate that make the most generous implementation of capital punishment seem civilized by comparison.
It's overdue that we re-imagine policing in our country - things are safer than ever they've been, yet police are executing more people than ever for comparatively trivial offences. Without the benefit of judge or trial. It's a myth that we've done away with Capital Punishment. What's true is that we've made probably the least qualified people in our population both judges and executioners.
"A lemon for my water..."
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- Written by: Rod Boyle
- Category: Rants
- Hits: 1128
This is one of those things that pissed me off, and I could never quite figure out why, like people demanding hot water instead of cold, it's a trifling inconvenience, and then it dawned on me. You bring someone a water - for free - and they immediately begin to bargain with you. They want the water for free, now they want a lemon for free. If you let them they'd demand their meals for free (and some have). It's just fucking bad manners. If I owned a restaurant I'd throw it on the menu - "Add a lemon to your water - only $5.00", an upsell for everyone that didn't know to leave well enough alone...
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