People Who Can't Read Are Bumming

ENTRY 2


People Who Can't Read Are Bumming

I spent this past holiday weekend with friends in Hamilton.
I still know a lot of people there, and the reason I no longer live in Hamilton is due to the fact that Hamilton is just not cool. I will expand on that in the next chapter.

Also, I find that quite a few people do not respect rules in Hamilton, and therefore do not respect other people.
I don't want to go as far as to say they are assholes, but they need to understand that the world does not revolve around Hamilton. (It actually revolves around Toronto).
Anyway....

On Sunday I was at Limeridge Mall on Hamilton Mountain.

I was waiting at the entrance in front of the bus terminal for a buddy of mine, and I saw a group of people, at least four of them, smoking right in front of this sign:

In Toronto, people respect this rule and follow it, and it is enforced.
Limeridge mall security, who are supposed to be enforcing this, were very busy upstairs making a lot of noise dragging and dropping risers on the second floor. A much more important job than enforcing a safety policy.

It is obvious that (more than a few) Hamilton people have absolutely no respect for anyone except themselves.
It kind of reminds me of another Ontario city, Does anyone remember Mississauga?
I try not to.

One of the World's Coolest Cities

Another thing I noticed about Hamilton is the number of pickup trucks. Everyone drives a truck there. You hardly see them in Toronto. Everyone drives an SUV in Toronto.
Why do you need a truck in the city?
How cool can you be driving a pickup truck? That's like driving a minivan or a Hummer.
(That's right. A Hummer isn't cool, either, even if the people driving them think they are.)
Nothing screams, "I'm cool" more than an F-150.
Picking up the girlfriend in the ol' truck. "Hey, baby, jump in the back, and hope it doesn't rain."

That reminds me of back in the 90s when Hamilton was known as "The Country and Western Capital of Canada".
Wow, cool.
What, are NO tourists enough for Hamilton?

Hamilton's economy is going down the crapper, because they rely on only one source of income, steel making.
Well, that industry is going downhill, and is taking Hamilton with it.
Hamilton could do well with tourism, but they have to do better to promote it, A bit of coolness helps.
Don't get me wrong, there are really no cool cities in Canada,
If I were to rank them out of 10, Hamilton would be a 1, Calgary would be a 2, Toronto would be a 5, Vancouver would be a 6, and Montreal has the highest coolness factor, and its only an 8.
Hamilton could do much better, Although, it is better than Mississauga.

I don't want to compare Hamilton too closely with Mississauga, because there is a bit of a difference.
I have friends in Hamilton, and they are really nice people.
Mississauga people are assholes, Hamilton, as a city, is just not cool.
It is unfortunate, because Hamilton has a lot of potential.
They also need a real CFL team.


---The Brick

Welcome !

ENTRY 1, week ending August 29 2015.


WELCOME

Welcome to the very first entry of this new blog.

This is a journal of my life for the previous week.

There is nothing much to report this week.

I started a job with a new company, and so far it has been going very well. I like the location they put me. Down by Woodbine Beach. Nice area, and so far nice people.


DUNCE AWARDS LEADER BOARD

This section is being transferred from one of my other blogs, Comments From the Blue Corner

The idea is to un-clutter that blog, and keep to its original content.

However, I wanted to keep this section active.

For those who have been following my other blog, you are already familiar with this. However, let me explain it for those who are new.

The Dunce Award is given out to a company or organization once a year.

This began in 2014, and the winner that year was the City of Mississauga.

The winner is presented with and e-Award, and a banner placed at the bottom of this blog for a period of one year,

It is given out to said organization for any one or more of the following:

• Unsafe conditions
• Rude and/or unprofessional staff
• Poor customer service
• Operating in an unconventional way that negatively affects customer experience

A report will be filed via this blog, and in some cases the organization will be notified through a structured complains process if available.

If the organization does not respond to the complaint, or responds in a negative manner, they will be nominated for a Dunce Award,

However, my goal is to NOT have to give a Dunce Award. 

That last thing I want to do is make anyone look bad.  I am not here for that. I just report what I experience, and leave it up to the business or organization to fix the problem.

If a reported issue is fixed, I announce it in the Dunce Awards column, and compliment the company.

There were a lot of nominees in 2014, and the City of Mississauga won, due to some of their staff being disrespectful and unprofessional, after several complaints

This year, I am happy to announce that there are so far only three nominees, down from last year.

Here are the nominees so far:

1. funtriva.com,  for being disrespectful to a member, and not responding to concerns.
2. braingle,com,  for being unprofessional and responding negatively to concerns.
3. Toronto Transit Commission, for poor service and not fixing service after many complaints.

Here are the proposed banners. One (or two in case of a tie) will be displayed at the bottom of this post for every entry for a year for whoever wins.

The winner, or winners, if any, will be announced in December.

Here is the current banner for Mississauga.
It will be displayed until the next winner is announced, or December 31, whichever is first.

I have found a new site to replace Fun Trivia and Braingle, as currently I am not submitting content.
This site is called sporcle.com .
They allow submissions from members without the stupid review process.
Why not give them a visit, and check out some of the great tests and trivia submitted by their members?


---Paul "The Brick" Brec
  Toronto, Ontario, Canada


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"The World According To 'The Brick'" is published weekly, every Saturday.

For a look at some interesting tidbits from around the world, visit, Amalgamated Enlightenment, published twice a week, on Monday and Thursday.

To follow by boxing endeavors, visit Comments From the Blue Corner, published Tuesday and Friday.

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