How to destroy your life in one evening.

I know.  I promised the last post to be the final re: the Vancouver riots.

As I drive into downtown Vancouver for our non-profit society's AGM today, I will see first hand what is the City like now.

Apparently it is "back to business" except for The Bay's* boarded up windows covered with written expressions of sadness and regret from one end to the other.   Even that is coming down as replacement glass arrives today.



a small portion of the plywood "wall of love" for Vancity

 There has been quite a fallout from Wednesday night's riot. 

People's lives have essentially imploded.

Many of those in posted photos on various social media have lost their jobs, scholarships, positions of prestige in the community etc. (Fair enough)

The "mob mentality" of Wednesday night is now sweeping the Facebook community in response to the riot.  This online mob is calling for lynching - often threatening violence to the guilty parties and their families. (exposure: ok.  Threats: not ok)

Those people are no better than the rioters themselves.

Certainly there have been those who have criminal records that have been identified and "outed" and haven't gotten anywhere near the publicity that the usually "good" people have. (not that I condone what any of them have done!)

Is this because we expect this kind of behavior from those who are known criminals? Does it strike too close to home for the public to have normally peaceful citizens involved in criminal activity?

We want those responsible for the riot to go on to be productive members of society - not hardened criminals.   Having worked in the corrections system as an RN,  if these persons are put in prison - all they will learn is what those in prison will teach them.

Support shown for police with post it notes

I happen to believe that those who have no criminal background are best "rehabilitated" in the community - NOT the jails - and would benefit more from paying back all the expenses those downtown businesses and police and individuals suffered as a result of the riot.  Community service for a good number of hours and a sincere apology would also be a good idea. 

Which brings me to the point I want to make.

There are people who have apologised and are taking responsibility.

But - there is a difference between this apology and this apology. [ADDED: as I note later - she has since edited her "apology" to the type of apology she should have started out with]

The first is a young man that steps up and apologizes....and doesn't justify his actions except for a brief mention of being "swept up in the mob".

The second is a UBC student who spends most of her online "apology" giving justifications and excuses.

If you are going to apologize, the correct way is "I'm sorry" and then stop there.  Perhaps a follow-up "I will do whatever it takes to make up for what I have done and am willing to accept the consequences" would also be acceptable.

my own photo-a poster I had in the 1970s

Anything beyond that is bound to ring hollow and even negate any perceived regret expressed up to that point.  

Definitely don't harp about someone's spelling of "color vs colour" - it does nothing for your argument.  The statement about "woman can riot too" mystifies me.    Pulling the "race card" .......and pulling out "studies and social comments" and quotes from newspaper's reports on why people do these things doesn't help your case either.  Perhaps reconsider rewriting this quote from your 'apology' - " Remember, the only thing that I did was take a couple things from a store.  It’s fairly minor compared to the rest of the acts that were done."  

 [ADDED : I just looked at her page, she has now reconsidered what she said in her original posting and redacted all her "justifications". Too late though - you can find it anywhere else on the net. I have a copy, I found it so ludicrous - I knew she couldn't be naive and foolish enough to leave it up.  Unfortunately, it was too late for her.  The internet is forever.]

Justification/excuses does not an apology make.

Just apologise profusely and sound sincere.

Then shut up.

It's interesting that a 17-year-old high school student could do a better job of putting together an apology than a University student.


***************************

* The Bay is a Canadian-wide department store.