Raise the Hammer

One thing that irritates me to no end isn't the money question, isn't the question of whether or not you have a roof over your head. My major irritant is that it seems it doesn't matter who you are, it seems like there's only one type of person (I know major generalization...I'll refine my point in a minute)

1. I know there is more than one type of person - and there are good and great people who just don't do these things.
2. Just because you have money (or are perceived as having money) doesn't mean you can't be a menace to your surroundings.

I was asked if I could instantly change three things about the downtown what would they be. I call them the three S's.

-Smoking -Spitting -Swearing

It seems it doesn't matter if you're down and out or not. Chances are, you do one or more of the following if you exist more than 10 minutes on King St. (I know I'm preaching to the choir as it were)

Everyone smokes. Around kids. Around shops. Around grandmas with oxygen tanks. (which are only frustrated because they don't have their lighter on them to light up their smoke) It makes the place smell, and it kills. It kills me, and it kills you. It's gotta go.

Spitting has to be one of the lowest most disrespectful thing you can do. Essentially, you are telling everyone around you that you don't care. Walking through someone's loogie is disgusting, and the guttural undulations to bring forth the tasty morsel is sickening and noticeably audible. People get colds, infections...yada yada yada...when I do, I spit into a flower bed and step on it (while not stepping on the lovely flowers) and try to be as polite as possible ...or hold on until I'm home or near a washroom where I can lay waste to my lungs in the way they so desperately desire. I don't spit in front of you as you walk because I respect you, no matter who you are. (oh, and my grandma, mom or aunts would slap the daylights out of me if I dared to spit in front of them...)

Swearing. I have worked in trades for most of my life (my dad has done general contracting, I worked in autobody, I work in factories via a temp placement agency.) People swear. I get it. I swear, sometimes. If it is part of your general conversation language, go back to school. (I'm not saying that only uneducated people swear . But maybe you missed a few vocabulary lessons. Or maybe you hang around with people that swear and to fit in you do it too...who knows.)

But you know what surprises me the most. It's not just the down and out that do these things. It's people with jobs. People with kids (and the kids are standing/sitting right there!!!). It's people with money.

It's a downtown that people don't take pride in, and they don't feel they need to take pride in themselves while in it.

Maybe it's just my perception and how I view those three things. But if I could dream some impossible dream.

Downtown Hamilton would not fill my lungs with smoke. I wouldn't have to watch where I walk to avoid dog crap and spit. I wouldn't hear derogatory speech. From my lips or anyone else's (I'm still working on it. I wouldn't tell someone to do something I wouldn't do myself)

Sorry for the rant.