Welcome to Windsor, Poor people to the left, rich to the right please, mind the gap, keep moving, and keep your eyes forward please.
This city treats poor people like a plague as the rich and affluent ignore them, the middle class ignores them, politicians ignore everyone but themselves. The downtrodden in Windsor are everywhere, their shopping carts with every possession they own, are everywhere, panhandlers are everywhere, drugs are everywhere. And behind everyone of them is a cop pushing them along to the next unseen alleyway or abandoned doorway, at the behest of city council and our illustrious mayor, Drew Fucking Dilkens. (I'm fairly certain his middle name is Fucking, but don't quote me).
Poor and homelessness is now a crime in Windsor. A crime nobody wanted to ever commit and nobody wants to be a part of but its now against Windsor's moral and ethical code to be not comfortably set financially. If you don't work in the tech or auto sector, and aren't part of a union, fuck you then. If you haven't been lucky enough to inherit dad's cash, have a mental illness, or have lost a job, fuck you then, enter through the left door. No right door for you.
And nobody gives a fuck.
Dilkens doesn't, he has a house, money and a career. The police don't, or can't, as they're job is to keep the peace and enforce the law. If city council determines that placing your shopping cart full of your own life behind a building is illegal, the police must move it. The lawyers don't give a shit, they just see a paycheck on the backs of the poor. The average person living in this city cares, but drugs, crime brought on by rampant poverty keeps most people from getting involved. Frankly, nobody wants to get shanked for trying to do the right thing. (Yeah, I'm generalizing, sue me).
Most people look at the homeless in this city as a burden to be pushed under the rug, out of sight out of mind kind of shit. Well, take a drive late at night and maybe open your fucking eyes for once (Drew). Drug addicts are on every corner, panhandlers are everywhere, shopping carts are scattered around town and left abandoned as their owners seek whatever shelter they can, or their next fix. You can't escape it if you simply open your fucking eyes (Drew).
The other night I pulled into a 7-11 at about 3am. As I got out of my car, I noticed two women sitting in front of the store on the curb, one of them asked me for a lift to the casino before I even got out. They were both a mess, more than likely messed up on something, and their clothing was a dishevelled mess. Now I'm all about helping people, but that night I became the person I'm bitching about. I said no, I'm not a taxi and walked on.
I've become part of the problem.
Last night while on call with my partner, we stood around his car at a Tim Hortons shooting the shit. A sketchy looking guy we had been keeping our eyes on butted into our conversation. It was obvious he was looking for a fight. My first reaction was that I really didn't feel like getting stabbed or shot tonight, so we go into the car and left. This guy was obviously on something but we weren't about to find out what.
I used to like the city at night, but now it scares the hell out of me. I'm sure Drew isn't too scared, I think he'd melt if he went out at night. There was a time when you'd be able to walk down street late at night and enjoy the nightlife, smells and sounds of the Windsor at night. Now, you run into meth heads with guns. Shootings and stabbings are commonplace now, and all of it, drugs. Every night another stabbing on the news, another shooting on the news, another half dozen police cruisers blocking off another street for the night. Another homeless person is found dead in an alley and nobody knows, or cares, how they died.
You don't see this on the news much, but it's out there. I see it every night. I see cruisers blocking a street, or parked crooked on a lawn, or zipping past at high speed. I see our police doing their jobs the best they can in a city rife with crime, and the rich choose not to see it. (Drew). Now, I know I'm comparing homeless people with crime here, but there's a point to that.
Homeless and downtrodden people in this city, or simply the poor, find themselves caught in the middle constantly. The aforementioned shopping carts affirm that. At the Tim Hortons we sit at while on call, there is a motel across the street well known to the police as a centre of trafficking and prostitution (hence last night's methed up idiot). And every night there's a shopping cart full of someone's life here as well. The two situations always end up close together. Those owning the carts don't want to be there, they want a home. But they can't have one because the system failed them and they end up on the wrong side of the tracks.
This week it was announced that Street Help is closing down. Now, the woman who runs that place, Christine Wilson-Furlonger, is no friend of the city. Frankly, most people believe she's profiting on the back of poor people. But whatever you feel about her, the fact is she tried to do something. She made an attempt to help those who nobody else would help. And if your only possession in this dump is a shopping cart with junk in it, she was your friend. Now she's closing over a fued with the city (Drew).
So what's left? The Downtown Mission. A great organization I admit, they do great work. Lately they've installed a pay as you can dental clinic that amazingly enough is overbooked and jammed. (Can't imagine why, any ideas Drew?)
The Mission is over capacity, dirty, and constantly running out of food and money. With the announcement of Street Help closing it will surely get worse.
But don't worry! Drew has a solution! Drew and his council croneys to the rescue! Windsor City Council is selling the main branch of the Windsor Public Library downtown, to the Mission. Problem solved! Located just a few feet away from their current digs, the library building will fully contain all Windsor's homelessness away from anyone who might see them, like, you know, rich people. And all it will cost the residents of Windsor is their iconic cultural learning resource centre. (Who needs that anyway, we have the internet). Besides, the library hosts homeless people all day anyway. They go there to catch up on the news, sit down in a comfy chair and read books. So nothing much will change, right?
Welcome to the new Downtown Mission, our old library, Windsor's new District 9.
This city treats poor people like a plague as the rich and affluent ignore them, the middle class ignores them, politicians ignore everyone but themselves. The downtrodden in Windsor are everywhere, their shopping carts with every possession they own, are everywhere, panhandlers are everywhere, drugs are everywhere. And behind everyone of them is a cop pushing them along to the next unseen alleyway or abandoned doorway, at the behest of city council and our illustrious mayor, Drew Fucking Dilkens. (I'm fairly certain his middle name is Fucking, but don't quote me).
Poor and homelessness is now a crime in Windsor. A crime nobody wanted to ever commit and nobody wants to be a part of but its now against Windsor's moral and ethical code to be not comfortably set financially. If you don't work in the tech or auto sector, and aren't part of a union, fuck you then. If you haven't been lucky enough to inherit dad's cash, have a mental illness, or have lost a job, fuck you then, enter through the left door. No right door for you.
And nobody gives a fuck.
Dilkens doesn't, he has a house, money and a career. The police don't, or can't, as they're job is to keep the peace and enforce the law. If city council determines that placing your shopping cart full of your own life behind a building is illegal, the police must move it. The lawyers don't give a shit, they just see a paycheck on the backs of the poor. The average person living in this city cares, but drugs, crime brought on by rampant poverty keeps most people from getting involved. Frankly, nobody wants to get shanked for trying to do the right thing. (Yeah, I'm generalizing, sue me).
Most people look at the homeless in this city as a burden to be pushed under the rug, out of sight out of mind kind of shit. Well, take a drive late at night and maybe open your fucking eyes for once (Drew). Drug addicts are on every corner, panhandlers are everywhere, shopping carts are scattered around town and left abandoned as their owners seek whatever shelter they can, or their next fix. You can't escape it if you simply open your fucking eyes (Drew).
The other night I pulled into a 7-11 at about 3am. As I got out of my car, I noticed two women sitting in front of the store on the curb, one of them asked me for a lift to the casino before I even got out. They were both a mess, more than likely messed up on something, and their clothing was a dishevelled mess. Now I'm all about helping people, but that night I became the person I'm bitching about. I said no, I'm not a taxi and walked on.
I've become part of the problem.
Last night while on call with my partner, we stood around his car at a Tim Hortons shooting the shit. A sketchy looking guy we had been keeping our eyes on butted into our conversation. It was obvious he was looking for a fight. My first reaction was that I really didn't feel like getting stabbed or shot tonight, so we go into the car and left. This guy was obviously on something but we weren't about to find out what.
I used to like the city at night, but now it scares the hell out of me. I'm sure Drew isn't too scared, I think he'd melt if he went out at night. There was a time when you'd be able to walk down street late at night and enjoy the nightlife, smells and sounds of the Windsor at night. Now, you run into meth heads with guns. Shootings and stabbings are commonplace now, and all of it, drugs. Every night another stabbing on the news, another shooting on the news, another half dozen police cruisers blocking off another street for the night. Another homeless person is found dead in an alley and nobody knows, or cares, how they died.
You don't see this on the news much, but it's out there. I see it every night. I see cruisers blocking a street, or parked crooked on a lawn, or zipping past at high speed. I see our police doing their jobs the best they can in a city rife with crime, and the rich choose not to see it. (Drew). Now, I know I'm comparing homeless people with crime here, but there's a point to that.
Homeless and downtrodden people in this city, or simply the poor, find themselves caught in the middle constantly. The aforementioned shopping carts affirm that. At the Tim Hortons we sit at while on call, there is a motel across the street well known to the police as a centre of trafficking and prostitution (hence last night's methed up idiot). And every night there's a shopping cart full of someone's life here as well. The two situations always end up close together. Those owning the carts don't want to be there, they want a home. But they can't have one because the system failed them and they end up on the wrong side of the tracks.
This week it was announced that Street Help is closing down. Now, the woman who runs that place, Christine Wilson-Furlonger, is no friend of the city. Frankly, most people believe she's profiting on the back of poor people. But whatever you feel about her, the fact is she tried to do something. She made an attempt to help those who nobody else would help. And if your only possession in this dump is a shopping cart with junk in it, she was your friend. Now she's closing over a fued with the city (Drew).
So what's left? The Downtown Mission. A great organization I admit, they do great work. Lately they've installed a pay as you can dental clinic that amazingly enough is overbooked and jammed. (Can't imagine why, any ideas Drew?)
The Mission is over capacity, dirty, and constantly running out of food and money. With the announcement of Street Help closing it will surely get worse.
But don't worry! Drew has a solution! Drew and his council croneys to the rescue! Windsor City Council is selling the main branch of the Windsor Public Library downtown, to the Mission. Problem solved! Located just a few feet away from their current digs, the library building will fully contain all Windsor's homelessness away from anyone who might see them, like, you know, rich people. And all it will cost the residents of Windsor is their iconic cultural learning resource centre. (Who needs that anyway, we have the internet). Besides, the library hosts homeless people all day anyway. They go there to catch up on the news, sit down in a comfy chair and read books. So nothing much will change, right?
Welcome to the new Downtown Mission, our old library, Windsor's new District 9.
