Grumpy Old Man - On the Buses

Front Seating, Invisible Disabilities, Elderly, Whippersnappers

The intrepid author has witnessed far too often, problems on the transit system when it comes to how the disabled and elderly are treated. The transit staff are not what I am talking about, I find they do a pretty good job and I find that things are constantly improving in regards to services within Metro Vancouver and I would hope in other cities as well. What I am referring to is the regard many citizens have for the seating set aside for people who may be disabled or otherwise have problems standing or walking on a moving bus.

I have watched young people taking up the front seats of the bus which are labelled for disabled or elderly passengers with no regard for those who might need them. The drivers can only do so much for them when the bus is full and they can barely see past the people standing in the aisles. It is okay for able bodied people to use those seats when they aren't needed, but the signs say they must be given up when the area is needed by the disabled, elderly, or when people in wheelchairs or mobility aids are riding on the bus.

I am not sure just what is up with these otherwise clean cut individuals. They just do not seem to care and they act like they are entitled to the seating - they payed their fare, they were there first, they get the seats.

...or that is what I thought until yesterday when after getting off a crowded bus I watched a couple of guys having taken up two of those front seats -- even while people with canes were standing with difficulty on the crowded bus -- literally dancing at the transit exchange.

After the fact I was wondering if they were even enjoying that they had taken up those seats? Perhaps they had other reasons that they were dancing and perhaps they were "ignorant" that they were doing anything wrong in the first place. I still would like to think that.

I realized something on the bus. There are many people with invisible handicaps and if you do see someone not getting up for someone else and giving up their seat -- they might be invisibly handicapped. I am not sure how appropriate it might be to ask someone who looks able if they are and using those seats unless you actually are the person in need of one of those seats... or you are asking for someone in need. When someone is entering the bus in a wheelchair or mobility scooter it is pretty obvious that those front bench seats will need to be folded up. I am not sure but I figure that any reasonable person who is fit would give up another seat for an elderly person who has to give up one of those seats for a wheel chair. But I am a bit steamed over totally fit young people who take up those seats without regard for others who need them.

I also know that often the people who need those "handicapped" seats are also those less likely to speak up and ask for them. They tend not to want to make a fuss and just want to go through life quietly. I know that is a generalization and it comes from anecdotal observational evidence, but it is what I have seen to be the case.

Somehow I think that when they refer to seating for disabled people they don't mean morally disabled or morally handicapped....

Later!
~ Darrell

105.

Ferret Better or Worst

Service and Assist Animals on Transit

To Assist or Not to Assist, That is the Question.

Gyno lost his transit pass last April for reasons that still haven't been made clear. Gyno (pronounced Gino - "JEE-no") is Frances Woodard's albino ferret. I nearly said "pet ferret" but Gyno (image to right being held by Ms Woodard -- image from Ottawa Citizen) is a working ferret that Ms Woodard uses to give her freedom of movement.

Gyno's duties are not those of a Guide Dog that most are probably familiar with or even another service animal such as might be seen leading a person in a wheel chair by helping to pull it or by opening doors for someone physically disabled. Gyno is the sort of assist animal whose work is a bit more invisible like a number of disabilities and handicaps also tend to be.

Here is a list* of the many types of service animals:

• Guide dogs (or dog guides) for persons who have visual impairments.
• Service animals (e.g., dogs, cats, monkeys, pigs) for persons who have physical disabilities.
• Hearing and signal animals (e.g., dogs and cats) for persons who are deaf or have hearing impairments.
• Seizure-response/alert animals (e.g., dogs, cats, birds) that alert individuals with seizure disorders to oncoming seizures and/or help the individual during and following the seizure.
• Emotional support animals (e.g., dogs and cats) that provide assistance for persons with severe emotional impairments or mental disabilities.

Dogs are by far the most common type of service animal. However, cats, pot bellied pigs, monkeys, and birds also are trained as service animals. Some dogs also are cross-trained to provide a combination of assistance, such as guiding a visually impaired person while pulling his or her wheelchair.

Granted that list is from the US, but it is a functional one rather than a legal one and so I think it is useful here. The ferret fits into the "Emotional support animals" category in that it provides emotional support to Ms Woodard when she is out of the comfort zone of her home. Having the ferret to focus on allows her to cope with the panic attacks of anxiety she would suffer. Petting and stroking it calms her down. The ferret is kept in a harness intended for the purpose and intended to be escape proof for a ferret and the ferret is to be kept in its carrying bag at all times while on the bus.

Ms Woodard went and got the proper pass to allow her to take the ferret on public transit last fall as a working animal. She has a note from her psychiatrist stating that "an assistance animal, specifically a ferret should accompany her at all times when she is in public, especially on transportation."** Ms Woodard also "had Gyno assessed by an animal-behaviour consultant in May and has a letter from that says Gyno is well-behaved and could not possibly escape from the harness he's put in when he's on the bus."**

The reason given for having given the pass was that it was at the discretion of the issuing officer based on her assessing on what was done in other jurisdictions across Canada while the reason given for taking it away states that what was done in other jurisdictions does not apply in Ottawa and that having the animal on public transit could pose a danger to passengers and driver for the reason of precautions that Ms Woodard had accepted as provision for her being able to use transit. IE if the driver or any passengers were allergic she would get off and wait for the next bus or train; the ferret would have to remain on the special harness for the whole journey and would have to remain in its special carrying bag.***.

Now considering that in other jurisdictions of cities the size of Ottawa and larger which allow animals -- and not even service or assist animals but simply pets -- on public transit as long as they are in appropriate cage or kennel that can sit on the patron's lap or at their feet -- without worry or concern for their drivers, why should this be such a problem in Ottawa?

This is from Vancouver's Translink's FAQ page on Using the System and whether you can bring an pet on public transit:****

Q Can I bring my pet on transit?

A Yes, in most cases. Pets including dogs, cats, rabbits and small fur-bearing or feathered pets are allowed, as long as they are in small hand-held cages. The container must fit on your lap or at your feet. We suggest off-peak times are best for travelling with your pet. The bus operator, at his or her discretion, may not permit your pet on board if there is a concern for the safety or comfort of your fellow passengers.

I wonder how much of the taking away of the pass has to do with a statement by the president of the union that represents the bus drivers, André Cornellier who said he doesn't think ferrets should count as service animals?

"Seeing-eye dogs and hearing-impaired dogs are recognized under the law, but I don't think a ferret is considered under the human-rights code," he said.

Personally I do not think that the driver's union should be steering this decision much but I suspect there is some weight behind that statement.

I also wonder if there is any connection to another article I read from Ottawa Sun News Columnist, Susan Sherring, "Pet issue dogs public transit" July 22, 2008? "There is a movement to allow dogs, cats, and other small animals on public transit."*****

The plan has the support of Mayor Larry O'Brien and is being put forward by the local chapter of the Responsible Dog Owners of Canada. The point they make is that if guide dogs are allowed on public transit, he can't see any reason "...that domestic pets should not be allowed on public transit under the right conditions"*****

I suspect that the bus drivers' union is not happy with other domestic animals being allowed on the buses in addition to the allowed guide dogs and this is being connected with assistance animals of sorts other than the traditional guide dog for the blind being allowed on the buses.

Of course that is being quite cynical about things. There are legitimate concerns about people with allergies and dangers to toddlers sticking fingers too close to snapping dogs or ferrets. There are moves being made to ban strong perfumes and colognes from public transit too for there are passengers and drivers with sensitivities to them... but wait... these are things to allow people with hidden disabilities -- allergies and asthma -- to ride public transit safely. Perfume and cologne are not aides to disabled people. Assist and service animals should have higher priority. There are times when someone with an assist animal might be asked to take the next bus perhaps due to driver allergy just as when the spaces reserved for movement aides are all in use.

In the U.S. you are not required to have certificate of training and in fact people can not ask you to produce it before providing service to you if you have an assist animal just as they can not ask you for paperwork proving whether you are disabled or not. That is regardless of whether or not the State has certification programs. Now we do have different laws, but there are reasons behind the American ones*. They do make some sense. There is reason to have certification for some sorts of service and assist animals, but others do not need the same sort of training. Some like the ferret in question mostly just need to be of good nature and in good harness. Their job isn't to look out for stray cars or missing stairways -- their job is just to help assure the bearer that all is all right. I hate to think what the stress of all this is doing to Ms Woodard.

Later!
~ Darrell

98.

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*"Assisting Passengers" RITA U.S. Department of Transportation | Research and Innovative Technology Administration -- National Transportation Library

**"Ottawa transit refuses to reinstate pet ferret's bus pass" Laura Drake -- Ottawa Citizen, July 23, 2008

"Ferret barred from Ottawa buses; disabled owner files complaint" CBC News, July 23, 2008.

***Link to a PDF file of the Letter from OC Transpo to Frances Woodard on May 6, 2008 on the CBC.ca site.

****"Can I bring my pet on transit?" Using The System, Frequently Asked Questions -- TransLink - South Coast British Coliumbia Transit Authority

*****"Pet issue dogs public transit" Susan Sherring, News Columnists -- Ottawa Sun, July 22, 2008

No Degrees of Separation

How Connected Do We Need To Be?

I just was reading about a "Rehab Resort for Crackberry addicts" which I cam across on a canada.com Technology news feed*. It talks about a new resort plan where people sign a waiver and pledge to go off-line for the duration of their stay while handing over their cellphones, BlackBerrys and other mobile devices. The devices get locked up in the hotel safe.

The package includes all the amenities of the resorts -- and we are talking the Fairmont Hotel and Resorts with the hot springs and other facilities included. The resorts are in Banff, Lake Louise, Jasper, and Whistler.

All that to get away from their electronic umbilical cords for a short while. Of course people start young with their dependence on mobile devices with even special cellphones for children. I think a larger percentage of teens have them than not -- enough that there have to be regulations about cellphones and cellphone usage in school and on school property. All the time looking out the windows at the Gnomestead I see teens in the 7-11 parking lot talking or texting as if the rest of the world did not exist -- oblivious to the fact that they are actually standing in a strip mall parking lot with life streaming past -- they'd never notice the mountains around them or the bald eagle soaring overhead.

Adults who can't seem to be away from the office or other job site without being "attached" somehow are a similar issue though different. Are they so important that they are not allowed to have a life other than for the corporation? Can the company not function without their input while they are not actually working on shift? If the company does operate 24 hours or 16 hours a day, perhaps there should be supervisors that can be trusted to watch over it without needing constant referral to the people who are home?

Or... perhaps those who are glued to the hip to the phone or BlackBerry simply are so dissatisfied with their life that they would rather be with whomever is on the other end of the line than the person the are with in person? If someone is on a date and constantly talking or texting someone during it, perhaps they would rather be with that person? -- or at least someplace they can talk and text without the constant interruption of feeling they should be making conversation.

Or is that the point of standing in the corner store parking lot with the strangers streaming past? -- the privacy of a public corner in order to always be in contact with someone, someplace, anyplace, but where they are.

Later!
~ Darrell

90.

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* Rehab resorts for Crackberry addicts - Sarah Mc Ginnis, Canwest News Service - published July 17, 2008 - © Calgary Herald 2008

Yes, Please

Please, Thank You - Hello, Goodbye: Living In Polite Society

Is Port Moody a bit weird? How often do you hear people saying "Good Morning" to the bus driver? Perhaps that isn't so strange sounding to you and we Canadians are known to be a polite bunch, but how about the people leaving the bus saying "Thank You"?

Yes this happens very often here when people are leaving the bus and not because the people really know the drive well either. To them it seems the right thing to do and it seems when some people are doing it then others will follow suit. Perhaps only a quarter of the folks will be saying "thank you" to the driver on exiting the bus - and I should mention here that it is not just when they exit the front door beside him, but the automated rear doors where they call out a cheery "thank you". I know it makes me more likely to say "thank you" as well.

I know there are practical reasons for saying "thank you" as you exit the bus at the rear doors - for one thing it lets the driver know someone actually is there and exiting; just in case the system has failed and he doesn't know the doors are still open and someone is exiting so that he doesn't start driving while they step off. I really don't think that is why people do it here.

I think it has to do with being a part of "polite society".

I do ponder on what "polite society" means besides perhaps obsessively following arbitrary rules on what to say when and in which situation. For now, let's forget about things like men standing when a woman enters the room or which fork to use with left handed dinner rolls. I am thinking of the very basic stuff in a polite society like saying "Hello" "Goodbye" "Please" "Thank You" "Excuse Me". Now of course these are verbal things and not physical things like the "Good Deeds" you might remember that Boy Scouts are supposed to do each day like helping little-old-ladies to cross the street.

One thing I realized when trying to figure out how to translate "Hello" was that essentially saying "hello" simply was an acknowledging of another's coexistence with you in this world. Many greetings seem to be asking how someone is: "Howdy" - "Howdy Do" - "How do you do?" But really for the most part many are not really interested other than acknowledging the other person. It might sound silly, but compare that with simply being ignored - you sit in a room or clearing in a wood and someone enters - they say nothing or they say hello - even if they are a stranger and there is no intent to speak, it does make some acknowledgement which improves how things move from there.

I think that "Please" might be looked at in a similar way - not looking at formal situations where there is formal protocol - that even if there might not be a real matter of much decision or choice there is an implication that a choice is nicely there. I am thinking along the lines of "Please pass me the potatoes" verses "Pass me the potatoes." With the "please" it implies a choice - I think even if it is totally expected that the potatoes be passed (or else Mom and Dad would get ticked off.)

I think politeness and graciousness just make the place a bit nicer and more comfortable to live in. Like a nice cushion on a hard bench. The bench is still there and usable without the cushion, but the cushion makes it more comfortable to use and at times... the cushion might even prevent injury like blister and bruise on a long cruise on a bumpy lumpy road in the back of a truck.

I think perhaps a "Thank You" might get glossed over on the bus, but I think that I have noticed a well placed "Thank You" or sincere "Good Morning" put a smile on a bus driver's face as well as a few others on the bus - once or twice the next stop after I noted the bus driver having been cut off on the road. It doesn't have to be from a pretty-young-thing or a child or anything like that, just a sincere bit of politeness and gratitude.

Life, I like it that way.

Later!
~ Darrell

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Looking Out From My Balcony

Memories...

I was just looking out from my balcony and along with enjoying the views of forest, moutains, and ocean inlet I was people watching a few moments. I spied a young woman walking from the West Coast Express Station towards me and noted how much she reminded me of a girl I was fond of when I was in First Year Science at the University of Calgary. The girl I watched was younger than my old lab and study partner, but her long hair was the same very dark brown which tended to be lighter at the ends - not high lighted or dyed, I think, but there was just a sort of glow.

Anyway, being a self conscious sort I didn't want to stare and turned my gaze elsewhere before heading back in. I had only intended on a short breather upon opening the sliding glass doors to let in a little of the glorious late spring air.

I did get to thinking - why was I concerned about people watching? - in particular because it was a beautiful young woman? Well partly I am very sensitive to other's feelings and also to what people think of me. I don't want to be know as the strange old man who ogles women from that second floor balcony. But I realize that I was only reminiscing about an old friend and I knew her long ago so that I was remind about her by someone who was close to the age she was when I knew her. I realize that I am now over twice that age and have no untoward intent toward the young woman I saw - but I wonder if others might get a bit of a bum rap only because they are looking at memories of their past?

Don't get me wrong, I do not think it is appropriate for mature men to take advantage of young girls - or for that matter for mature women to do so. (Or young boys or whichever mixture.) But how often when someone is looking at someone half their age are they simply looking back in time at their youth?

Now I also sometimes will see someone and when I see features like someone I knew wonder if they could be the child or -ahem- grandchild of someone I once knew. There is one actress on TV who looks so much like a girl I went to school with that I am almost tempted to write her and ask if they might be related.

Of course how is one to tell who is innocently wandering memory lane and who is a pervert doing a bit of window shopping?

I guess it is important to know how to look without staring, how not to make people uncomfortable and to learn how to spot the predators out there among us. Still it can be a bit awkward for the self conscious and for the writer and artist whose vocation involves the observation of people.

40

Noise

Noise - If a Helicopter Crashed in the Forest, Would You Hear It?

There was a helicopter crash in Cranbrook, BC and the passengers and one bystander were killed. As with most aircraft crashes it is considered a tragedy and they say it would have been much worse if the pilot had not been able to avoid landing on the homes on either side of the street. However the aspect I am writing about is what is being said about the young man, Dalmas Otieno, who was hit while on the ground. Many people are saying that Otieno might have avoided the crashing helicopter if he hadn't been wearing his iPod with headphones.

It seems plausible - aren't earphones like ear protection meant to block out sounds? - wouldn't the music heard through the headphones mask any sounds coming from the outside? - isn't music being played a distraction? But is it plausible? - perhaps it is, but perhaps not.

From my own experience - which is anecdotal and not a scientific study, and I do not know what Otieno's habits in using his iPod or even if he was wearing it at the time - I can make a few arguments that the iPod might not have been an issue.

I really cannot speak for others, but when I am listening to my mp3 player - albeit not an iPod, I am not that affluent - I can hear cars approaching and people speaking. I normally use earphones rather than earplugs which might make a difference. I define earplugs as ones that actually go into the ear canal while earphones are the ones that sit just inside the outer ear, like the ear bud which often are foam covered. I also only occasionally use headphones which cover part or all of the ear, but definitely on the outside of the ear canal. When I wear my headphones I also can still hear what is going on around me.

Now that does not mean that everyone can hear what is going on around them. I also notice that when I take out my earphones and hold them in my hand around a foot from my head - that would be 30 cm - I really can't hear the music, radio show, or audio book playing. I note that with other people I can hear noise overflow and even enough sound to identify songs from 2 metres - that would be around 6 feet - away. Granted with possible hearing loss from the high volume they might not hear approaching vehicles any more even without anything in their ears.

I am not sure how much more iPod earphones block outside sound than my earphones do. I am not sure how much noise cancelling ones might either. Noise cancelling earphones and headphones are specially designed to take certain sorts of external noise and and electronically dampen it by creating sound waves that are the inverse of it... if you don't understand wave cancelling don't worry, just understand that you can dampen sound electronically. From what I gather from the technology is that it works on repetitive vibrational type sounds - sounds like a jet motor or car motor makes. They wouldn't cancel the sound of most human voices or crashing machinery. Of course, they might dampen the sort of sound some alarms make?

As to the music being a distraction... that is something else. For one thing I can be distracted by anything in the environment I am in. I figure most people can if they are not concentrating on something specifically. I find that music is something that I rarely actually concentrate on. It simply provides a pleasant background to the world - not like wallpaper in a room - it is there, but it is the paintings on the wall or the person I am talking to which is being focused on. Personally I might find an audiobook, newscast, or radio talk show more distracting among things that might be played on an mp3 player or iPod. The same would go for conversations or a radio being played in a car.

For me however I noticed that when I am driving if there is anything exceptional happening on the road, like anything out of the ordinary like someone driving erratically or a broken patch of pavement or anything like that, I stop talking and stop listening to whomever is in the car and am 100% focused on the car and everything around me. I am aware of what is around my car in any case keeping a buffer zone around it - that means if at all possible in addition to proper safe following distance, I also do not drive beside another vehicle or in it's blind spot and I am aware of anyone entering my own blind spot.

Perhaps though Otieno plays his iPod loudly and has noise cancelling earphones - would that have prevented him from noticing the crashing helicopter and somehow leaping, crawling, or running to safety? This morning while standing at a bus stop with a gravel truck driving by with it's gravel truck trailer and making just a bit more noise than a slightly loud car - I started wondering - how much noise does a crashing helicopter make before it hits the ground? "BEFORE it hits the ground."

Granted I think that if you hung a gravel truck 1,000 feet above the ground - that's around 300 metres - it would make less noise than a helicopter or small plane. I am not sure how much is due to the turboprop engine and how much is due to the sound of the blades moving through the air. Even then, what would you hear? Would you hear something out of the ordinary or just a helicopter that seems to be flying extraordinarily low. I know that I normally turn to look whenever I hear a helicopter, but that is personal interest in helicopters and that sometimes they do interesting things - besides crashing. So perhaps even if he weren't wearing the iPod at all, he might hear a helicopter flying very low and getting closer and closer and then look and... How close would it be? - would there be time to jump out of the way because surely it would be travelling 160kph - that's 100mph.

I think we all would like to think that we could dodge a falling helicopter. I am not sure if we could. I am not as sure that an iPod would be much of an issue though like with Olympic competitions split seconds count.

I think that there is another reason that comes into play. I think that there are many people who are offended by people listening to iPods, mp3 players, Walkman, Diskman, cell phones, or even them new fangled transistor radios in public. I can see there is a certain rudeness involved with a lot of cell phone usage in public - especially since a lot of people are used to speaking up or projecting when using them. That means they are loud when they speak on their cell phone and so everyone is forced to become involved in their conversation. Their conversation bothers everyone around them on one level or another. It might be one thing at a bus stop with some sort of emergency, but a constant flow of loud chatter is something else. Also on a bus it seems that every mile or two there is one phone or another ringing and at least a couple conversations already in progress.

And of course there is the distracting issue of that noise spillage from headphones when people must be playing their "tunes" at rock concert levels. Consider this, I have my earphones on and am listening to my music on the bus at a comfortable level to me and the noise coming from the earphones of the person sitting in front of me is almost as loud as from my own earphones. That doesn't help the offence that folk feel.

Perhaps there should be courses on cell phone etiquette before someone decides there should be laws? Laws do come about when there start to be problems. There are murmurs and in fact more than murmurs of laws to do with cell phone usage and headphone-earphone-earplug usage in cars and even in places at controlled intersections. I am sure I heard one official speaking in relation to the Otieno incident of enacting laws governing people wearing head sets in downtown settings?

I can understand various trades and industries banning usage of headphones and earphones in the work place. I am not so sure about how truckers might feel if they weren't allowed to listen to their country crooners while driving down the highways with or without headphones. Noise cancelling headphones might even be a boon for them as it would block out the sound of the diesel engine while allowing the sound of that ambulance approaching to get through even if they were listening to Reba.

I think that the statements on the news about the iPod were just to make the news more sensational. Did anyone even look into whether the iPod could be an issue?

Should it even matter since he wasn't driving or even riding a bike. He wasn't in the downtown core of a big city or on a construction site. He was on a "...quiet residential street lined with single-family homes and apartment buildings." (Canada.com - Family of chopper crash victim calling for compensation - Stephane Massinon, Canwest News Service Published Wednesday, May 21) Some people made it seem inappropriate that he was listening to the iPod or that in some way it was his own fault that he was killed when struck by the helicopter. But even if he was struck by it on the second bounce - I heard on a broadcast that the helicopter hit the ground once on its skids and then bounced in the air and crashed - would it have made a difference and is it so wrong to walk in a residential neighbourhood listening to some music? What if he had been sitting in his living room listening to the stereo?

I am against rude use of cellphones and music players with headphones or earphones; I am for some reason irritated that people are not only disturbing others with their loud music, but causing themselves permanent hearing damage; but I don't think that an iPod or mp3 player and its user should be blamed for something that really they are probably not an issue in.

I am also somewhat irritated that some are considering legislation to limit usage of earphones for people walking around in urban settings.

...now where can I buy a set of "bone phones"?

39

Grumpy Old Man - Not Tooting a Horn

Beep Beep

When did everyone decide that it is okay to sound your horn at any time of the day or night just because it might be convenient for you?

I recall, from somewhere that it was actually illegal to sound your horn except in a matter of an emergency? Part of the justification for that was that otherwise people might be less likely to treat the horn sounding as that of sounding an emergency situation. It also disturbs people and might startle them. Would you walk up to a 90-year-old-man or woman and sound an air horn?

This might sound like an extreme comparison however for quite a while I have found more and more cars where when the alarm is turned off or on the horn sounds. This is not a gentle tap on the horn but a full blown blaring of the horn. I get most grumpy when it isn't the "beep beep" like the VW Bug of old, but when it is the nearly air horn quality horn of the large pick-up truck or large SUV. Walk down the sidewalk of a small shopping centre and well after the vehicle has parked and the driver has exited, the horn blares! The driver having walked away and even while entering the shop heading for a frozen slush or chocolate bar or that 6-pack at the liquor store pushes the little button on his key chain to engage the car alarm and "HONK!!!!"

That sound no doubt comforting to the driver in that they know their prized chariot is now electronically protected. They didn't even have to turn their head to tell that the alarm set for they heard it engage. Of course anyone walking by the car, truck, van, or SUV got an earful of horn. Of course on the way back to the car... "HONK!!!!" And they know it is safe to open their doors without embarrassing themselves by accidentally triggering the alarm system.

Bad enough during the day, but you do get a fine sampling of horns if you are near any parking lot. It is more aggravating the later in the day after the afternoon is over. It rises making my grumpier for sure as it gets later. I know I don't like jumping when a horn blasts as I walk down the sidewalk. But on a quiet evening... and it doesn't even stop at midnight...

I first started getting grumpy about it when my past roommate and I started discovering that we both were being woken up at 4am each morning for no reason that either of us could figure out. We live in a moderately quiet apartment building and though not far from a major thoroughfare are used to that and the sound of traffic is not unlike that of a river - the firetrucks or ambulances do not wake us up. But something was.

Now I admit to suffering fairly often from insomnia and I found myself up before 4 am. It approached 4 am and "HONK!!!" it echoed from the parking garage under the building. I heard my roommate in the next room stirring, then getting up and doing what slightly older people do when they are woken up in the morning... well most folk I know have to go to the washroom when they are woken up substantially enough.

Now being an insomniac I have problems falling asleep so once I do fall asleep every moment I can sleep is precious. Being woken and robbed of that sleep very much pains me. My roommate had to wake up around 6am to go teach daycare and being woken 2 hours ahead of time is not nice either. I discovered that someone in our building worked a night shift and got home from work at 4am and when they parked their car they set their alarm and "HONK!!!" they were comforted to know their car would be safe for the night. Now of course it didn't bother them... they were AWAKE at the time. I wonder how many other people on our side of the building were woken up each weekday morning? (I really didn't care to sit up vigil down in the parking lot to see which car came in at that time. Call me a wuss but I really don't like my first meeting with a neighbour to be a 4 am confrontation when who knows how sober or belligerent they might be. Probably not something the police would interfere with either.)

Luckily they moved after not long. Interestingly people who don't play well with others tend to move around alot... they seem to find that everyone around them is unpleasant.

So just what is the point? My Dad's car flashes its lights when he turns the alarm and ignition disabler on. The lights flash when he turns them off. He can test the alarm to make sure it works, but he needn't do that every time. Now he does have to face the car when he checks to see the lights flash, but how much work and inconvenience is that for one person versus the inconvenience and discomfort caused to so many around?

Oh yes, I also live near one of those small shopping centre and luckily the bulk of the building is between me and the bulk of the parking. But as I typed this I heard at least two horns... perhaps the same car. But I knew I would and that was before 8am.

Of course - then there is the other thing... people too entirely lazy to walk up to a house and ring the doorbell or knock on the door. "HONK!!!!" Everyone look to see if it someone waiting for you! I really don't want to waste a moment of my life going to your door so I want to waste everyone else's time and comfort by blasting my horn so they have to check. That is bad enough on a residential street, but in an apartment building...

I really get grumpy and wish there was some way to complain, someone to complain too... maybe I'll figure that out yet.

Later!
~ Darrell

PS guess what I just heard?

"HON....

38