Woman thinks she is a bicycle, causes massive traffic jam.

[-DLC-]

The woman egging her on is a moron.

 

If it's mental illness that's involved, it's sad because it isn't entertainment, it's tragic.  Saw a guy yesterday as I waited to pick up a skytrain passenger...was in tight shorts and a muscle shirt, wandering around with a plastic cup and a bag full of baggies of ... rotten food?  Was opening them and smelling them while ranting about "that eagle eyed guy who looked at me".  He then walked straight out into traffic to cross the street.  Clearly not firing on all cylinders, yet people were reacting with hostility at him.

 

Wish we had more resources for those in trouble.   Also wish people wouldn't pounce at every opportunity to "film" events that probably should be handled differently.  A guy died on my lawn on my birthday and people arrived on the scene to .... take pictures.  Until I ran them off.

[Darth Kane]

The woman egging her on is a moron.

 

If it's mental illness that's involved, it's sad because it isn't entertainment, it's tragic.  Saw a guy yesterday as I waited to pick up a skytrain passenger...was in tight shorts and a muscle shirt, wandering around with a plastic cup and a bag full of baggies of ... rotten food?  Was opening them and smelling them while ranting about "that eagle eyed guy who looked at me".  He then walked straight out into traffic to cross the street.  Clearly not firing on all cylinders, yet people were reacting with hostility at him.

 

Wish we had more resources for those in trouble.   Also wish people wouldn't pounce at every opportunity to "film" events that probably should be handled differently.  A guy died on my lawn on my birthday and people arrived on the scene to .... take pictures.  Until I ran them off.

Sadly we've all probably seen scenarios like your experience at the Skytrain station.  More often than not I expect this is drug related which can be linked to mental illness.

The resources available for people who need help is absolutely pathetic.  What's even more pathetic is the lack of resources available for kids who are having issues with addiction.  In BC the general mentality is "they're just kids, they'll grow out of it".  The problem is that many kids don't then the issues and problems get worse and carry on into adulthood.  

[Mustapha]

Sadly we've all probably seen scenarios like your experience at the Skytrain station.  More often than not I expect this is drug related which can be linked to mental illness.

The resources available for people who need help is absolutely pathetic.  What's even more pathetic is the lack of resources available for kids who are having issues with addiction.  In BC the general mentality is "they're just kids, they'll grow out of it".  The problem is that many kids don't then the issues and problems get worse and carry on into adulthood.  

Mental illness I can understand, but drug addiction is in a different category IMO. We all have to decide how to live our lives, and the first step is to take responsibility for your actions.

I don't trivialize the hardships that low income families face - I grew up in a trailer park on the 'wrong side' of town. But feeling sorry for addicts and trying to help them only goes so far. They have to decide to help themselves, and when they don't or feel they can't, that's the biggest tragedy of all. I find ignorance tends to breed more ignorance, I saw it all the time in my childhood. I knew it was the wrong way to act and I never fell in with those people, most of whom are still shooting up in their dilapidated shacks...if they aren't already dead. My parents never gave me the 'drugs are bad' talk. I saw the way our neighbours acted and the squalor they lived in and I knew I wanted no part of it.

[ice orca]

But... don't we have the freedom to be what we want to be? If she wants to be a bike, then let us all consider her to be a bike from now on. #humanrights #bikerights #imjoking

I wonder how many times that seat has been snarfed.

[Darth Kane]

Mental illness I can understand, but drug addiction is in a different category IMO. We all have to decide how to live our lives, and the first step is to take responsibility for your actions.

I don't trivialize the hardships that low income families face - I grew up in a trailer park on the 'wrong side' of town. But feeling sorry for addicts and trying to help them only goes so far. They have to decide to help themselves, and when they don't or feel they can't, that's the biggest tragedy of all. I find ignorance tends to breed more ignorance, I saw it all the time in my childhood. I knew it was the wrong way to act and I never fell in with those people, most of whom are still shooting up in their dilapidated shacks...if they aren't already dead. My parents never gave me the 'drugs are bad' talk. I saw the way our neighbours acted and the squalor they lived in and I knew I wanted no part of i

The challenge with addiction is that the individual scenarios are rarely that straight forward.  Mental illness is often linked to addiction as the afflicted self-medicate using drugs rather than seeking treatment (for whatever reason).  It's also common for individuals who've suffered a traumatic event (i.e. death of a parent, physical abuse etc) to self-medicate using drugs.  I'm not trying to make an excuse for addicts, but I don't think it's fair to pass judgement and/or think it's as straight forward as "people should know drugs are bad".  Addiction also isn't an income-related event.  In the lower mainland there is a major issue with youths from well-off families being addicted to oxycontin/fentanyl.  There's also genetics to factor in as well, if both parents are addicts then their child has a higher probability of becoming an addict.  Addiction is a family disease, it's not just the addict who suffers. 

My point is that addiction is a problem that impacts everyone and judging addicts does nothing to help solve the problem.  BC's infrastructure for addiction is terrible which seems counter to the drug-friendly mentality this province has.  I find the provinces resources for youth addiction particularly poor, parents have no rights in helping their children who've become addicts.

[JoGuitar]

The biggest problem,(as someone who has a mentally ill relative) is that the government and police decided that people who are mentally ill have a "right to be ill if they choose" the problem here is that when my relative has a relapse they refuse treatment categorically and I have to wait for them to be arrested and convince the police to transfer them to treatment under the conditions of the Mental Health Act, which they will only do if they are "posing a danger to themselves or others" by which point we are too far gone to have a swift recovery. Basically I have to watch my relative ride the relapse recovery rollercoaster over and over again. There is zero support for the mentally ill or their families, and as soon as they are somewhat stable the hospitals boot them back onto the street before full recovery to take another person in "crisis".