It's a sick world.

[Patchoulia]

Disabled cyclist robbed....in Saskatoon.

[secondtube]

*shakes head*

man....this is a stange day....

[StoneMtn]

Stoned, could you post the actual text?

I'm not 'registered' to view the Toronto Star online, and I would also like to be offended a little further at humanity today...

[Kaidy Mae]

Here ya go StoneMtn.

Disabled cyclist's bike, cash stolen

Cross-Canada trip stalls in Saskatoon

SASKATOON—A disabled man's cycling trip across the country came to a halt last week when his bike was stolen and a witness to the crime robbed him.

Since then, Maurice Bernier of Quebec City has been sleeping at the Salvation Army and relying on the kindness of strangers for an occasional ride.

"I said to myself, `Oh, this is not a good day,'" Bernier said on the weekend of his first hours in Saskatoon.

Bernier, 52, had stopped at a family restaurant for a bite to eat when his 21-speed bike was stolen.

The bike, reconfigured to better suit his disability, had lights, a handlebar computer and black saddlebags over the front and rear wheels.

"All my stuff was in there," Bernier said. "But now maybe all the bags are in the garbage."

The bags contained his sleeping bag, tent, stove, food, tools and clothes, as well as personal items such as an address book and a journal.

"Every day I would write in that book. It's all gone," Bernier lamented.

He estimates his bike was worth at least $800. To add injury to insult, Bernier says he was pushed down and robbed of the cash in his wallet belt after he went out and discovered his bicycle missing. He could only watch as a woman rifled through his credit cards, identification and cash.

Both robberies were reported to the police but Bernier doesn't plan to follow up because it means he would have to return to the city at some point if arrests were made.

Bernier, who left home May 21, has a hereditary muscle disease called myopathy, which is a form of progressive muscular dystrophy.

"Every year I lose more strength. I have a hard time walking right now but biking is good for me," he said.

His plan was to continue to Edmonton and then up to Yellowknife. His next stops were to be in Prince Rupert, B.C., Victoria and Vancouver Island. Bernier was then hoping to ride down into Mexico for the winter.

"Now I guess my trip is over."

Even with his strained ability to walk, Bernier walked to Canadian Tire and Wal-Mart stores to check out new bikes and equipment, but was discouraged by what he found.

"It's no use. It will cost me $600 for a bicycle but then I need a tent, a sleeping bag, a stove and all of that stuff.

"It's so discouraging because it's so many things I've lost.

"I've been doing this for seven years now. I don't know what to do. My legs hurt so much from walking in town."

[StoneMtn]

Now I regret that I asked that to be posted. The first incident was horrible, but the woman stealing his money is beyond human.

Firt "Jerry-day" now this? I think I'm about to cry.

[TomFoolery]

That's disgusting.

There's a shop in Ottawa that gives out stickers saying "Death Penalty for Bike Thieves".

I've always thought that was bang on - this really makes me feel like going out and busting a few bike thief heads.

[Kaidy Mae]

Wow! That is pretty insane. I posted it for you before I even read it. Someone stealing a bike is not too shocking...happens all the time. HOWEVER, that crazy bitch who robbed him is just pure evil. How sad. I hope that in the very least there are people in the community he's stuck in who are willing to help out and at least get the poor guy home.

Yikes, I just caught a glimpse of the Yahoo! news briefs to the right of the screen as well. Really, what is going on in the world? Fuckin' greed! :mad:

[Kaidy Mae]

There's a shop in Ottawa that gives out stickers saying "Death Penalty for Bike Thieves".

Hahaha! I have a sticker on my bike that reads Bike Theft = Bad Karma. It's a little more subtle than the death penalty one, but it seems to do the trick. *knock on wood*

[StoneMtn]

Is there such thing as "good karma"? I thought all karma keeps you stuck in Samsara? (Sorry, a bit off topic...)

[ollie]

Hopefully some locals with money see this story and buy him a new bike and whatever else he needs to finish his trip to Mexico. I'm amazed that he seemed to take it all in stride. I'd be too livid to talk.

[paisley]

I'm amazed that he seemed to take it all in stride. I'd be too livid to talk.

always impresses me that disabled folks often seem so much better at dealing with setbacks like this than more fortunate people in the same situation... less is more, so they say

momma's, don't let your babies, grow up to be crystal meth-heads. what a sorry wench

best of luck to the robbed guy, seems like he hopefully has cashed out most of his bad luck

[rubberdinghy]

Todd?

[paisley]

Todd?

hilarious, lol

[TomFoolery]

It'd be believeable that he went the wrong way, but the Newfoundlog seems to eliminate this possibility.

[Ms.Huxtable]

Does anyone else notice that the less fortunate people of the world seem to be more forgiving and generous? Rich people can't find a quarter to spare but the minimum wagers are generally more eager to donate.

Case in point - I sent a card around the office to collect donations for one of my staff that just bought his first home. My boss (who has a gorgeous home, boat, SUV, etc....) gave $5.00. Our Room Attendants who make the least of anyone here averaged $20.00 per person.

Just an interesting observation.

[Patchoulia]

You're totally right Ms. Hux--I learned this lesson as a teenager when I used to babysit all the time. The really wealthy people used to be the biggest misers, and the people who were struggling with every penny were unfailingly generous.

I remember, once, the wife of a lawyer for whom I was babysitting gave me $5 for 2 hours of babysitting her 2 year old and 6 month old and asked for $1 change.

[Kaidy Mae]

You're right on there Ms. Hux. When I used to bar tend on Market St. in SF (business district), I would always try to work the happy hour shift. That's when the construction workers and other blue collared folks would pop by for some beer and tequila. Not only were they the most generous tippers, they were the most enjoyable to be around.

During the day you served the "suits". Late at night you had the pre-dance club crowd to contend with. You'd be lucky if either group left you a buck (and they were usually getting food as well). It just seems that those who value hard work and know what it's like to not have an abundance are the first to share what little they have.

[shainhouse]

Those people responsible for this will get the karma that's coming to them. Absolute, indignant scum.

[StoneMtn]

I just told this story to one of our secretaries.

In turn, she told me about an 80-year-old woman sitting in her electric wheelchair in her own yard in Surrey, BC. Scumbags came and threw her from her chair and stole it. Her daughter found her lying in the yard later that day.

I hate people

[Patchoulia]

I just told this story to one of our secretaries.

In turn, she told me about an 80-year-old woman sitting in her electric wheelchair in her own yard in Surrey, BC. Scumbags came and threw her from her chair and stole it. Her daughter found her lying in the yard later that day.

I hate people

My god. That just elicited a visceral, physiological response from me. I'm nauseated.

[Kaidy Mae]

Wow! I just got back from my lunch here in Barrie and the entire hwy 400 northbound is closed due to an accident. Apparently someone drove SOUTH on the NORTHBOUND side of the highway. What the fuck? Police are looking for any witnesses and are desperately trying to figure out what is going on. So sad.

This same thing happened two summers ago on highway 11. A woman who suffered from depression (or manic depression) drove south down the highway killing 4 people and herself. MORON!!! I know it is hard for people to get help, even though it is easier now than it has ever been. If you want to off yourself, I'm not going to stop you. But sweet Christ, there's no need to take innocent people with you!

The radio stations/newspapers up here aren't saying a word this afternoon. Bizarre, considering the lineup of cars out my window haven't moved in over an hour. I fail to see how this could be done by "accident". If this was an honest mistake (doubtful), how could you drive nearly 10km without pulling off the road (I met a man on my lunch who passed the accident going southbound, he said the ramp the driver entered on was "about 10km up the road")? To make this even more troubling and disgusting is the fact that there was a baby in the backseat. Apparently the poor little thing is okay, but others have been rushed to hospital in Toronto. The man I spoke to didn't see how anyone would have been able to survive. He was shocked when he heard the baby was okay. I'm not sure what car the baby was in, but from the way he described it the baby was in the car going southbound in the northbound lane.

What the fuck is wrong with people? :mad:

[Kaidy Mae]

Same thing happened in Orillia last month StoneMtn. A woman I know (with crippling arthritis) parked her electric scooter outside a church while she went in to help make food for the soup kitchen. When she came back, it was gone. It was found last week totally trashed by the railroad tracks. I mean, someone didn't even steal this because they needed it. How inconsiderate can people be? It never ceases to amaze me.

Even worse is that she has no insurance and the company that was renting her the scooter is charging her for the damages. Poor Joan.

[Hux]

Guys, check out this article from the cbc, it also ran on the National last night....

Rich Canadians feel poor: survey

CBC News

TORONTO - The more money Canadians earn, the less likely they are to think they're well off, according to a new survey released Wednesday.

The survey, done by Jigsaw Marketing for American Express, suggests that Canadians who earn $200,000 are less likely than average earners to believe they are living comfortably.

The polling company spoke by phone with 1,000 adult Canadians. The survey is considered accurate within three percentage points 19 times out of 20.

Among respondents earning $200,000 or more, half of them complained they were just getting by on their wages. By contrast, 85 per cent of Canadians earning $58,000 – the national average reported in the 2001 Census – said they were comfortable.

The higher earners were also more likely to believe that money can buy happiness, although most said it couldn't.

It also showed that Canadians earning the big bucks were far more likely try to spend their way to happiness.

While they said they didn't believe they were living lavishly, respondents earning more than $200,000 were far more likely than average earners to spend $2,000 per person on a vacation, to pay $250 for a night in a hotel room, and regularly rack up $100 tabs at restaurants.

The top financial priority for all Canadians, according to the survey results, was to pay off their debts

[Kaidy Mae]

Hwy 400 update:

A report on the radio just said the baby was in the car that got hit by the jackass going the wrong way. The man driving the Jeep going southbound and the mother in the other car were rushed to hospital. The baby was completely unharmed, but taken to Royal Vic as a precaution.

[bradm]

Many years ago, my parents, my brother, and I were having dinner in a restaurant. Several tables over, a child (younger than either my brother or me) was acting up, yelling, hissy fit, the works, disturbing everybody in a several-table radius. The parents of this troublemaker were doing nothing to stop him.

My brother leaned over to my Mom and asked, "Did we ever do that?"

"Not more than once."

A generation or two ago, children were educated and disciplined in how to behave responsibly and considerately in polite society, and were punished if they behaved irresponsibly or inconsiderately.

Now, due to the whole "self esteem" way of educating, the increasing number of households in which no parent is there full-time, media that glorifies stupid and nasty behaviour, a society that equates "nice" with "weak", and a generation or two that hasn't known real hardship (consider: my parents, born in the 1930s, grew up during the two hardest periods in recent memory: the Great Depression and WW II; humbled by that, you realize that anything you have [even hope] is better than the nearly nothing you had), we're reaping the whirlwind of good intentions gone horribly wrong.

Robert A. Heinlein, in his Future History series of stories, referred (or "pre"ferred, as he wrote them in the 1930s and 1940s) to this period as "The Crazy Years". As with so many other things, he was bang on.

Aloha,

Brad