Ah Canada Day

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Ah! Canada Day… where patriotic citizens celebrate the birth of our nation and enjoy the camaraderie. Local citizens waving flags, vying for optimum positions to view the Silly Summer Parade, are enjoying the sights. Children are lined up on the sidewalks, some overflow onto the street, picking up the lollipops thrown at them. Silly floats make their way down the avenue, like the spoof of the Beverly Hillbillies, early cave man vegetarians, and the children’s bicycle decorating contestants.

I would have to say I enjoyed the Black & White float of the Trinidad & Tobago group - lively music and wonderful costumes. The atmosphere was resplendent with great music, good vibrations from the crowd, and the children’s response to the parade was excellent.

But there is a down side to this event that some of our local citizenry are not aware of. The conclusion of the parade was marked by a rapid exodus of individuals rushing to their vehicles to exit the area. That in itself is not an issue, but the careless and mindless disregard of local signs, lack of courtesy to pedestrians, and the general “driven to oblivion” attitude by some of the ELITE Edmontonians is a cause for concern. Some of our upstanding citizenry feel the need to ignore local traffic conditions and signs in order to exit the area quickly.

Let me try to explain what occurred in a small section of Strathcona. If you are driving west on 83 Avenue, you will be facing a 4 way stop sign at 105 Street, traffic signs saying wrong way ahead. You are entering a one way section. You cannot continue west at this point.

Well, several of our ELITE citizens felt that they have a right to drive wherever they want to, in order to leave Strathcona area. I notified several drivers (over 12 within a 15 minute time frame) that they were going the wrong way, and was verbally accosted by several colorful expletives. One of the most memorable was “F—K you, and F—K Canada.” Ohhhhhhhh boy, anger management, or emotional issues for this fellow. A senior citizen in a van gave a similar response.

Okay, you had a great Canada Day, you enjoyed the parade, basked in the sunshine, and now you feel the end justifies the means by being wrong then swearing…

Oh well, some peoples kids.