JoeyMoggie

When we moved to Montreal, it was the first time I had actually lived right in “the big city”. Originally I’m from a small town just outside of Toronto, and later in a commuter town just on the outskirts of the the M25 in London England after I got married.

Needless to say part of me is thankful that I don’t have to have day to day dealings with the squeegee kids and homeless anymore here in Quebec since moving “off the island” unfortuntatly it leaves the other part of me being a tad blase about it, I blame that on having always lived so close to the big city. In the past (specifically on this blog) I’ve admited to pretty much being a snot-nosed stuck up holy-ier than thou heartless bitch. And heck I’m not afraid or ashamed to admit it again.

The downtown core of Montreal, espeically near the latin quarter (Think St Catherine and St Laurent) There are a ton of squeegee kids. In your face and abrassive squeegee kids. I’ve found that the random times I need to go right down town to pick up or drop off Colin as soon as I get off the highway I lock my doors, and make sure my windows are rolled up. Why? Not so much out of fear, more because I’d prefer not to have any confrontation.

I believe there is a big difference between homeless people and squeegee kids. The main difference, is obviously where they dwell. So many of these squeegee kids are young people looking to make some cash, most have a place with mommy and daddy to go home to. I’m not saying this as gospel, I’m saying this out of experience.

Recently, on one of my last jaunts to the city to get my husband I got stopped at the corner of Sherbrooke and St Laurent - right by the Just for Laughs theatre. There to my ammusement was a very clean shaven, newly hair dyed squeegee kid with a brand new squeegee, expensive trainers and designer jeans. He got to the window of my car and I flagged him away. He wiped the car windshield anyways and stood waiting to be paid for an job I didn’t want him to do. I watched him wipe his wet hands on his designer jeans. I sighed, thinking about my sister who had saved to buy the same pair of jeans a few months eariler for a friend who was a boy or a boyfriend of hers. I remembered my sister, who is a tad bit more into the label scene of fashion, and I as we stood motionless, heads pressed back stared up at the denim wall for a short eternity. humming and hawwing, and then finally a decision was made and a pair of jeans was purchased. At the till the friendly wrurrring of the register alerted my sister to her total, $257.45. Why does this squeegee kid need the coffee and tea soaked rusted pennies inside the drink holders of my car, heck I can’t afford designer jeans, I should have asked him to spot me a tenner.

Then there are the homeless, in major cities like Montreal - and especially in Canadian cities, there isn’t much reason for one to be actually on the street. Without a home of your own, sure. But on the streets, no.I watched a show on the news last year talking about how only half of the beds in shelters are used.I find it difficult to be sensitive to street people for that reason. Get yourselves off the street, get a good meal, get some training, get a job. . . . There is no overnight solution for homlessness - and they’ll have to work on it, but the services are there, they just aren’t making use of them.

I also think there are two tiers of homeless people, people down on their luck who have the motivation to make change. And then secondly, the people who abuse whats given to them, and berrate those who have better than them.

An example of the later is the one-armed, one-legged homesless man in Montreal. Montrealers know the guy by face. He is one of the most imfamous homesless people in Montreal, next to the Spoonman in front of Oglives. During the evenings he stands outside the exit doors of the Paramount movie theatre downtown near Peel metro. He stands close enough to the doors to be hit or nudged, so you have to as a polite human say ‘excuse me’ or ‘pardon me’ or sorry if you hit him. He has perfected his stance and stare and gives you a burning look if you don’t drop toonies and loonies into his worn hat. I suspect in a night he gets $100 or more. Maybe I should ask him for a tenner!

A little over a year ago, in one of my quests to ‘pay it forward’ I decided to give the homeless young people at the park at the corner of St Catherine and Berri, near Place Dupuis, a couple coupons for free bags of dog food for their dogs. (All of them had at least one dog!). The head of this group looked at the coupon for one of those grocery store dog foods and said to me in a crossed voice “We don’t feed that crap to our dogs”. This bothered me for a slew of reasons 1) Beggers can’t be choosers, if they were homeless, they really did need that food 2) If they were homeless, they would have though about the fact they could have returned the food for cash! 3) What the heck were they feeding these dog in the first place if the “best” grocery store food was considered crap? Perhaps they to have a secret stash of cash, maybe I should have asked them for a tenner.

Now all that being said, you can obviously see that I don’t give money to homeless kids with dogs, homesless people in general, and most definalty not to the squeegee kids. I do however quiet often throw a few tuppances into the boxes of street performers and buskers. Why? Because they have a skill and are doing something for the money, and most do it out of love of their hobby and not of of spite or just for the heck of it. . . I might even be inclined to give them a tenner!

Source

(AP) NEW YORK Toys “R” Us Inc. agreed on Saturday to award a Chinese-American infant a $25,000 prize in a New Year’s baby contest after the company came under fire for disqualifying the girl because her mother was not a legal U.S. resident.

Chinese-American advocates said they were infuriated by Toys “R” Us, which opened its first mainland China store less than a month ago, and launched an e-mail campaign on the issue.

The company responded by awarding each of the three babies in the grand prize pool of the “First Baby of the Year Sweepstakes” a $25,000 savings bond. Toys “R” Us is the parent company of Babies “R” Us, which sponsored the contest.

“We love all babies,” the company said in a statement. “Our sweepstakes was intended to welcome the first baby of 2007 and prepare for its future. We deeply regret that this sweepstakes became a point of controversy.”

Yuki Lin was born at the stroke of midnight at New York Downtown Hospital, according to hospital officials. The Wayne, N.J.-based company had said the prize would go to the first American baby born in 2007.

Although promotional materials called for “all expectant New Year’s mothers” to apply, Toys “R” Us spokeswoman Kathleen Waugh said eligibility rules required babies’ mothers to be legal residents. Many sweepstakes have such requirements, Waugh said.

Waugh said the prize instead was awarded to the runner-up ? Jayden Swain, born 19 seconds after midnight at Northeast Georgia Medical Center in Gainesville, Ga. ? after the contest administrator was told that Yuki’s mother “was not a legal resident of the United States.”

The third baby in the running was born in Bay Shore, N.Y., to a couple from El Salvador.

Some Chinese-American advocates said the company’s decision smacked of second-class citizenship.

“People are just pretty much outraged,” said John Wang, president of the New York-based Asian American Business Development Center.

Albert Wang, an attorney, who launched the e-mail campaign said “She was deprived of $25,000 intended to be used for her college education because of who her parents are,” he said.

The controversy had Janet Keller worried her winning grandchild in Georgia would lose the money, and said revisiting the contest would be unfair.

“She was disqualified — that should be it,” Keller said. “Don’t go changing your mind now.”

The company hopes the matter is settled now.

Attempts to reach Yuki’s parents, Yan Zhu Liu and Han Lin, 22, for comment were unsuccessful early Saturday. Their immigration status was not clear.

Let me start off by saying kudos to Toys R Us, for being the ‘bigger man’ in this controversy. Giving 3 scholarships exceeded any generousity they were required to give.

Am I a heartless soul if I believe that the company was would have been justified in giving the scholarship to only Keller family in GA?

Why should this Chinese woman and her family get that money? I’m sure if they read the rules and regulations and it probably did say “Open to legal residents of the United States only”.

I get hundreds of emails about getting a free laptop if I fill out a survey, or a gas card for a couple hundred dollars for answering a few simple questions. I have on occasion clicked the link, and there in the fine print “Open to US residents only. Must be 18 years or older to participate”.

If the contest was being run by Bacardi, or Smirnoff - and the ‘winner’ was a 16 year old boy, could he cite that he won the prize fairly and its ageist not to give him the prize? Of course not!

What if it was a scholarship given by the Negro College Fund, if the ‘winner’ was white - would they award it. No! Because its not intended for that person to win.

The article says that the baby is being discriminated because of who its parents are, the parents made the decision to enter a contest knowing they should not qualify. .  . .It drives me nuts when people don’t use common sense!

All countries have a legal process to enter the country, and a process to legally stay in that country - I’ve been there, I’ve done that, I’ve got the stamp in my passport. Why should people get to take benefit of the services of a country (and subsquently their contests etc) if they have no legal right to even be on the soil of that country?

Source 

Another perspective, an Asian-American born in the US, and his dealings with crossing the Canadian/US borders.

Today I got SPAMMED on my Blackberry.  I never get spammed on my Blackberry. I received 657 copies of the same email from “Tom Flores” about getting cheap Cialis and Lunesta.

Well, I appreicate that Tom felt it was so important that I know about this fabulous deal of only $4.99 per 200mg!!!!!!  Isn’t that a bargin!

 The only thing that concerns me about this great deal (besides the fact that in truth the Cialis is wasted on me, as I don’t have the equipment or the dysfunction to warrant its use) is the fact that if I did need it, and I was also using the Lunesta as well- I might be too tired or even alseep to even enjoy the Cialis. . . .what a shame!

Don’t you just love opening your mailbox seeing all the brightly coloured envelopes, fancied with stickers and other glitter. . . . .I love getting mail!

I’ve been quite disapointed this year with the number of Christmas cards I’ve received. . . .but for the record, its not that I have been forgotten. . . .

I have gotten a HUGE number of ‘Email Greeting Cards’ this year. . . .

WTF!

Do people just not have the time, the money, the resources? Man, if I can find the time to do them, it should be easy-peasy for anyone really. . . .Or should I be proud that the special ‘older’ people in my life choosing to embrase the internet revolution?

I pride myself on having personalized Christmas cards made, (with pictures of the moggies of course) each with a quick little handwritten message.

Each card stamped, sealed, stickered. . . . I even have Colin sign them. (I sign for the cats)

My opinion is that email Greeting Cards are an “extra” you send your family or friends, or something you send to your ‘cyber’ friends. . . .They shouldn’t be sent in lieu of a card to your family and friends . . . . .