Fork in the Road.

One last word about the riot aftermath.

Yesterday hundreds of people came out to clean up downtown Vancouver.

This am, the Downtown department store severely damaged due to the riot put on a "thank you" breakfast for clean-up volunteers and those brave souls who tried to protect their stores mid-riot.

Then, this evening, a young man (17 year old) who became notorious as the guy who tried to light a police car on fire not once but twice during the riot  - made an apology on the evening news.

His dad, a surgeon, his mom - an R.N. - stand by his side.  You can hear the mom crying off camera:



The Fork in the road.

One day you google your name and up comes all your awards and accomplishments.

24 hours later you google your name and up comes more than 4 thousand links - connecting your name to the riots - and all of it bad.

Why did some choose to do the right thing and others didn't?  What brought about the vortex of violence?

These people in the riot were not all "anarchists" or "low income" people as some were trying to suggest.  Many of them were educated, middle class or well to do persons from very good homes - your average joe like you and me.

Yet, some made bad choices and some made good choices.

The Fork in the road.

It's not just a topic for Sociology classrooms.

Two writers had a great "discussion" - the whys and wherefores - in this article here.  Read it.  It's an interesting commentary on how  instant electronic communication has affected our society - even the way people riot.

It's sobering food for thought.

Lord of the Flies.