Shirin Delsooz

My Life Adventures and Thoughts

Looking Back 2011 pt. 2 – Odds & Ends Adventures

There were a few small highlights here and there.

An interesting display of lights at the Gay Village in Montreal.

 

Jack Layton's Funeral. Olivia Chow can be seen standing in the right side.

 

Me with the Android Guy

Mysterious lady at the Parliament Building. Clue: (It's me!)

Over reaction of 'pepper spray'. Four fire trucks and a lot of police officers! And the metro was closed!

 

The missing purse found in Parc Lafontaine. All her important cards were gone, there was no money inside. But I managed to find her name and look her up on the white pages and Facebook. The police came and took the purse. After I got a hold of her, she told me her car was broken into and they took her purse. All her receipts she collected for taxes was scattered around the park.

This came across as a "missing person" poster, but a closer look shows that it is just a poster promoting a show. Maybe it should have used a different font?

Looking Back 2011 pt.1 – Biking in Montreal

This is the first post in a series of photos I’ve taken this year. I’m cleaning out my camera!

One of my most favourite things to do in this world is biking. Here is a review of my cycling adventures last summer. Thanks to my two biking partners that joined me!

A great friend! The Peugot Bike!

 

Biking on Rachel.

Bike paths in the downtown core.

Lachine Canal just minutes away. The view is splendid!

Bike paths in Old Montreal as well!

Parc Lafontaine during the day.

Parc Lafontaine during the night.

Life Updates

So here is a glimpse of how my life has been in the last few days…

Today I went to my friends house for a Quebecois jam. Although they were all beginner/intermediate players, I had a lot more fun. No egos! They were okay if I told them to repeat some parts that I wanted to learn, and they played slow enough so I could play along with the songs I didn’t know before. I’m not at the level yet where I can hear a song super fast and just play along like they do at the Vice Versa on Tuesdays.

I should also say here that I learned an important lesson that was not music related. At this cinq a sept jam, invitees were encouraged to bring something. The guests must have been horrified and not surprised that the English girl (me) was the cheap one to bring chips while everyone brought real French cuisine stuff, like brie cheese and bakery fresh bread. How embarassing! They didn’t even open my bag of chips, I think someone put it in a closet somewhere. Then, I had some nerve to eat a bit of their bread and brie cheese. And I even cleaned up the table after! I will know what to do next time. I was going to bring wine, but I thought there would have been a lot of that. Actually the truth is that there can never be enough alcohol. When I got to the party, there was barely anything left.

I had this strange dream two nights ago about being in France, not only was I at the Eiffel tower, I was also at the moulin rouge. Though it wasn’t quite the moulin rouge, it was a strange building called the moulin rouge, and when you went inside, there was a bike elevator, when you pedalled, it went up. It was a pretty bare elevator with no walls, so if you fell off the bike, you fell down in the building. It was a rush. I told the others who came in afterwards they were free to use it. And I spoke to a punk teenager who was sitting outside. When I woke up, I decided I would go to the south of France very soon for a holiday. I always wanted to go! And they have some cool traditional music that I was introduced to last summer by this super cool band called Xarnege.

I called my superintendant 5 times before she finally got her husband to install the lightbulbs in my room. It’s set up in a way that I am not able to do it with my bare hands. Glad I got that resolved, I was getting sick of living life in the dark. My quality of life went up a few notches. I should have complained more before. Oh and I should mention here that I got the environmentally friendly type bulbs. Luckily for me, they were on sale. Now I have to waste a day trying to find the environmentally friendly way to dispose of my old lightbulbs.

I’m practicing the songs for my next CD. I really am, but I work long hours, and I am taking these French classes twice a week, add in transportation time and it equals 1/2 – 1 hour of free time at home. During this time, I should really be eating, cleaning, and relaxing! But no! I play music! And I am writing this blog post because people have been visiting my blog and haven’t been seeing new content.

October has been a pretty big month for the news, with Gaddafi killed, the unfortunate passing away of Steve Jobs, 18 unsympathetic passerbies ignoring a dying toddler on a street in China, and of course, Occupy Wall Street going global.

I wish I could have participated more in Occupy Wall street, but I WAS WORKING, and I don’t have to camp in the cold to show my distaste for the current economic system. I could organize my own society! Maybe that’s a bit far fetched, but in the mean time, I could make smarter consumer choices, and inspire others to do the same. Keep the money within the 99%, and within the ethical folks in the 99%. I went to Occupy Montreal anyway, and gave away one of these excess cushions sitting around in my house to a camper. I figured they could use some extra padding during their sleep. But man, that place was such a slum. And it was raining! How do intellects with real concrete ideas for change protest? We can’t just shout on the streets until we get our ways, we need to be smart and make things change from the inside. The 99% lays the foundation for the 1%. So we can take some blame.

 

Asking For Food On Craigslist

Like many people, once in a while, I enjoy surfing craigslist in the hunt for a gem. But for some, it’s the last place to turn to. Today, I saw this post under the ‘free’. section:


Looking for a free food. (Montreal)
Date: 2011-10-06, 11:22PM EDT
Reply to: sale-tjqxr-2636752662@craigslist.org [Errors when replying to ads?]
THANKS TO ALL WHO REPLY TO MY ADD,TO ALL THE INFORMATION ABOUT PLACES WERE I CAN GET FOOD BASKETS.
EVEN THOUGH I COULDN’T FIND A PLACE TODAY TO GET ANY FOOD,ME AND MY KIDS WILL BE OK.

Does anyone knows where I can get free food,like a food bank or something.In Cote des Neiges area?
Got separated about 2 month ago, was left with kids and no help…have no welfare..
don’t do drugs,don’t smoke, don’t drink…just trying to get back on my feet..
Have 20$ in my wallet and nothing in the bank..I should hang on until Oct. 20th, not much food left in my fridge..
Does anybody have any ideas?…
I called Sun Youth food available only on Monday
At multicaf only on tusday…
Need it today
thx

I responded:

Hey,

I know its not the cote de neiges area but go to Concordia, the main building (hall building at maisonneuve and bishop), go to the 7th floor at around 1 pm. They serve free vegan good quality meals every weekday and you don’t have to be a student.

I’m sorry that you are going through this. I know you need food today. If you give me an address (not necessarily yours), I can leave some food for you if you absolutely need it.

—-

You see, a lot of people think that giving back to the community means volunteering or giving money at some registered charity place. But these places have bureaucracy, rules, opening hours, and regulations. Almost all foodbanks are limited in food. Some food banks require recipients to fill out complicated paperwork. Some food banks aren’t properly managed. Some food banks have very limited opening hours and are difficult to access. There is nowhere in this country that is open 24/7 for emergency food… EXCEPT the hospital. But you would have to feign some sort of illness that requires an overnight stay for food. So in reality, there is no honest way to get food in the event of an emergency. I used to leave it to the professionals to deal with poverty, but poverty requires a collective community effort! And today I decided to cut out the middle man and deal with it one on one. So I hope the person gets back to me or she finds food somehow. As I am writing this, I just remembered that she could have went to marché Jean Talon today. They have plenty of free samples. One lap through there, and you will be stuffed!

911 is not always the solution

I was riding my bike last week when I saw a senior lying on the floor, face down, squirming to get back up. I rushed to help him, not knowing how exactly. Would holding him up make things worse?

Upon closer inspection, I saw his cane by his side, along with his Wal-Mart tote bag, in it was a canned perservative. I tried to look into his eyes to see if he was conscious, instead I saw a small gash on his head. His hands were also bleeding. It was a terrifying sight, especially for me as I am faintish at the sight of blood. But I had to hold it together.

I was relieved to see someone else coming to the rescue. He tried to get him back up, but the old man was not able to get on his feet. “Are you okay? Are you okay?” His response was incoherent. My first instinct was to call 9-1-1. I’m not a doctor, but it didn’t appear that he needed to go to the hospital. He just tripped, it was just a small fall. I’m sure some polysporin, bandages, some rest, and the company of good friends was all he really needed. But he was not able to get up. Maybe his legs were broken? “Should I call 9-1-1?”

“Yes, I would call them,”

So I called them. I didn’t know what else to do. The dispatcher instructed me to not touch him unless he vomits, in which case I would have to turn him over. And so the 30 minute wait for the ambulance began, as I reassured the old man that everything will be fine. Oh everything will be fine! But I had a hard time believing that myself.

The “free” public health system is a nightmare. The villains are Mr. Wait, Mrs. Money, and the ring leader, Ms. Bureaucracy. The story starts with an ambulance. This ambulance usually comes late, and when it does, they charge patients $125 plus $1.75 per km. It would have been faster and cheaper to take a cab. (I’ll just mention here that ambulance fees for seniors over 65 are waived in Quebec, but only if you are in a stretcher “if warranted by the state of your health”. The old man didn’t need the stretcher though as you will see later in the story..). When they drop you off at the hospital, you will wait in a grim, colourless, room for hours, sometimes six or even eight hours before you get any medical attention. Needless to say, it’s a very miserable experience to live through.

As I was telling the old man that “everything will be fine.” and that the “ambulance were coming”. He struggled harder. “Don’t move!” I instructed him. But it was no use. He crawled and gripped onto a railing.

“Give me my cane! Give me my cane!” He yelled. So I gave him his cane.

As though it was a suspense film, the old man struggled, crawled, pushed, heaved, and finally got on his feet the second the ambulance came. So it looked like everything was fine, it’s just the bleeding that might have needed some bandages. The paramedic instructed him to go in the ambulance, but he refused. A team of three paramedics got in his face and tried to persuade him to go inside. He just wouldn’t go, his feet was down (literally).

“Is everything okay here?” I asked.

“Yes yes, we will take care of it.” said one of the paramedics.

And so I threw this old man into his responsibilty. The paramedic, knows with training and common sense, that the old man probably doesn’t necessarily need to see a doctor, and that bandages will do. But bureaucracy will tell him that he is not allowed to use discretion, and that he is liable. I left, I didn’t know if he actually did end up in the ambulance or not. But what we did all know was the solution, but we are too tied up to this system to make judgement calls and think for ourselves. And I probably made things worse by adding an ambulance bill to his plate…