What a beautiful day today was. It was warm, almost hot...the sun was shining, the cool breeze blew in off the river every so often, and the sounds of motorcylces and speed boats could be heard in the distance. What a perfect afternoon. I worked quietly at the bar, getting tent cards prepared for The Red Bull Air races this weekend, and as I was sipping on my monster energy drink I overheard shouting coming from outside. I turned to look out the window, and i saw a group of what i initially thought were onlookers to a car accident. So I walked outside to see what was going on. It took all of 2 seconds for my brain to register that these were not onlookers to an accident, these were a group of our infamous city strikers.

Dressed as if they were making a trek to Wal-Mart on a Sunday morning, these strikers looked more like tourists than out of work City employees. I began to wonder...where were the CUPE navy blue t-shirts? where were the purple flags? Where were the picket signs and chanting? They were nowhere to be found. Here stood a group of picketers afraid to be picketers. But as I stood there, taking in the scene, I began to realize just how ridiculous the entire situation was.

Allow me to set the scene: A dump truck pulled in behind Pizza Pizza, and from what i could tell, it was a waste management service, obviously a private company. The strikers decided to block the truck in so he couldn't leave, and proceeded to make their "point". What point they were trying to make however, was really quite unclear. The driver was forced to exit his truck and have his wife come pick him up, since the group would not back down. But I saw no angry faces, no victorious war chants, no signs, nothing. What i DID see were a bunch of people milking their vacation and having a fun time doing it. All over these strikers' faces were smiles and laughter, obviously enjoying the chaos they were causing. They stood there, obviously led by 2 rather filthy looking men, one with a long beard and sunglasses, wearing camo cargo shorts and work boots, as if he was suiting up for some form of jungle warfare. The other, a bald man with sunglasses and sleeve tattoos, obviously the follower of the other man. They stood as if they had super powers and arrogantly chirped at anyone who had anything to say with their obvious display of power-tripping.

What exactly was the point they were trying to make? You don't have what you want, so you strike? Ok, fine, that's your right. But as you're soaking up your time off, there ARE other people who NEED to make a living. In today's economy, and with the pay cuts and layoffs happening, people are doing everything they can just to make ends meet. I guarantee the driver of the truck was not picking up the garbage as a means to disrupt your precious protests, but he most likely, oh i dunno, needed to pay his bills...or maybe eat....Yet the strikers feel that this person should not be able to make his own ends meet, since he's taking their work upon himself....wait...it's not like he's really TAKING their work away, since they're NOT DOING ANY WORK AT ALL.

All around the city, garbage is piled, grass is waist high, and we're supposed to just deal with it, since THEY are on STRIKE? how about no. No one should be afraid to cut a lawn or pick up some trash, for fear that a...gulp...CITY WORKER will come storming after them, throwing their garbage bags everywhere, threatening them. We've all seen the Youtube video of that Shrek-sized woman throwing a little girl's garbage bag around, saying "You want to do our job, then here's more garbage for you to pick up" (as quoted by the witness). I mean, seriously? That's wrong on so many levels. And i'm sorry, i do not care if CUPE says they don't believe it was one of their members, as they've never seen her before, that's bullshit. Of COURSE they're going to deny her affiliation with the union.
They say that's not what this is about. It's not a strike against the citizens, it's against the city, blah blah blah...yet as I stood there, watching the bearded man talk into his walkie talkie like some form of military leader, and overheard another member tell an outspoken civilian that "someone should bash your teeth in", it seemed as if these strikers were much more interested in being modern day pirates than getting the benefits they are apparently SOOOOOO desperate for.

Everywhere I looked, I saw plain-clothed strikers walking around, putting up flyers, and they all looked as if nothing was bothering them. They all had smiles, they were all laughing, some of them looked as if they genuinely had no cares in the world. To my left, i overheard someone say "oooh, we have some action ladies!" and turned to see a quartet of rather..ahem...hefty women out for a nice little stroll down the main strip, devouring bags of chips. They stood and shouted cheers of support to their fellow strikers, and they were returned with happy waves and smiles, as if the strikers were celebrities of some sort, or heroes who had just done some sort of admirable and amazing deed. No...they were standing outside of a Pizza Pizza, blocking in a truck who was simply trying to get rid of garbage.

Now i will be the first person to admit that i detest politics. I don't care to look into the fine print of it all, and i'm sure i am missing quite a bit of information. But when all the bullshit is stripped away, it comes down to complete foolishness, and selfishness, and people feeling sorry for themselves, and milking the system. I am sick to my stomach when i think about how childish, selfish and ridiculous this is. So let me get this straight...because YOU, the strikers, are fighting for your pension, and benefits 30 years from now, and god knows what else, people all across the city are expected to just sit in their own filth until you decide you've had enough of your vacation and agree to go back? What, are you six? You don't get your way so you have a tantrum, stomp your feet, raise your voice, cry, throw things, and be a complete asshole until mommy or daddy eventually give in, and give you what you want...way to go, you should all be very proud of yourselves. The rest of the city is trying to at least come up with a resolution to get rid of their garbage and keep their parks and riverfront clean, and you're stopping them!?

As the rest of us are still working our 40 hours, and trying our best to make ends meet, you're causing chaos and whining and crying because you want things for a generation of people that don't even fucking exist yet. Well, I really want the government to allow robot hookers to walk the streets in 2078, and mexican midgets to be able to marry donkeys but i'm not walking out on my job because of it.

Bottom line, get back to work. Suck it up, stop fucking whining, and deal with the fact that maybe, just maybe, things will change in 30 years, just like the rest of the world. You're no better than anyone else. Waitresses are still making minimum wage and getting their asses slapped, single mothers are still taking off their clothes and getting filthy money put into their G strings so their kid can go to school, and guess what, homeless people are still fucking homeless. Your life really isn't that bad, as much as you want the city to think it is.

I wish the city, or the mayor or whoever calls the shots in this politcal clusterfuck would just fire every last one of you. Why? because with all the layoffs and cutbacks, i'm pretty sure there are a LOT of people that would jump at the chance for work, and won't give a flying FUCK what happens 30 years from now. Then as you're sitting at home looking for work in the newspaper you'll realize just how good you actually had it, because....gasp!...there's no work here! Blast! Who woulda thunk it!?

In conclusion, i would actually prefer that no one attempts to clean up the garbage, and instead just let it pile up on our streets...that way when you self centered assholes actually get back to work, you can sift through the maggot infested mounds of filth and dirty diapers and garbage water, and wonder if it was all really worth it...and as the scorching july, or august or september sun beats down on you, I hope the hard working and down on their luck citizens of this city are sitting on their porches or front lawns and watching you pick up every last little piece. I hope they applaud you and give you a standing ovation, since you're all modern day heroes...in your own minds.