Last week my friend and I got off the LRT at Grandin station. We began to walk towards the escalators when I noticed a man pick up the pay phone. He was in his early twenties and had a young boy standing at his feet who was perhaps two or three years old. The train began to pull away from the station. I noticed the child look at it, stick his arms out towards it, and take off running towards the moving train. I saw that the man was oblivious to this and reached out and grabbed the child when he was just a few feet from the train. The child looked up at me, smiled, and said hi. I smiled back and told him to go back to his dad and guided him that way. He took off back toward the man at the phone.

This sickened me all weekend. Not only had the man not noticed his child almost get hit by a train but he did not notice me stop the child or converse with the child. Not only could the child have gotten hit by the LRT but he could have easily been abducted. I work with children, I understand how difficult it is to have your eyes on them at all times but in an area with high speed moving vehicles that is inexcusable. The man should have at least been holding the child's hand.

I hope this serves as a reminder to parents and those responsible for children how quickly a tragedy can happen and how vigilant we need to be. I hope this also serves as a reminder to the general public to be aware of their surroundings and look out for people. It seems to me that this egocentric trend society is in needs to end.

On March 3rd like many people I was intently watching the news in the hope of an outcome other than murder. I was watching global national on a toronto station and naturally they covered the Mayerthorpe story first. They're next story appalled me. Immediately following the announcement of the tragic deaths of 4 RCMP members they talked of the young liberal's move to legalize marijuana. They didn't condemn it or discuss it in relation to the Mayerthorpe story, they borderline glorified the move to legalize marijuana.

I'm tired of people thinking marijuana is a victimless crime. First off marijuana is not a harmless drug for users. Marijuana is now commonly laced with drugs such as crystal meth. This is done to make the drug more addictive and I don't think anyone can argue that addiction and crystal meth are harmless. Also there have been many studies lately linking marijuana to mental illness.

Marijuana also makes many people victims in a way that many people don't think about. When you buy marijuana where does your money go? It doesn't go to some hippie in a house with a few plants. Your money goes to organized crime. Most people who run grow ops are people like John Roszgo who have a history of violent crime.

I've heard the arguement many times since the death of those four officers out of Mayerthorpe that if marijuana was legalized or decriminalized they would still be alive. I find this extremely disrespectful. These men did not just take a job they dedicated themselves and put their life on the line to enforce laws that they believed in. According to the statement released by one of the officers' mother her son believed in tougher laws. In her statement she did not focus on the pain of her family. She made her statement a political message, a plea to political officials. She did not want to make her sons death in vain.

If marijuana were legalized or decriminalized many more people would be come users or heavier users not only harming themselves but further endangering members of the RCMP. Think about what happened and why. Develop a stand on this subject and do not make these deaths for nothing.These men protect us, it's time for us to protect them.

R.I.P. Constables and my condolences to friends and family.

So I went to see a movie yesterday and what are the three things that will wreck a movie for you?
a) Someone Kicking Your Seat
b) Someone Talking.
c) Someone Leaving Their Cell Phone On.

Well we arrived early and sat the second row from the back when about 10 kids around 14 come in and sit in the back row behind myself, my friend, and a couple. These kids are kicking the seat and I'm thinking "Great I paid 9 bucks for a kid to piss me off for the next hour and a half!". Thankfully the guy with his girlfriend turns around and tells them to stop. So the previews are in full swing and these kids are talking. It's annoying but it's the previews so I let it go. The movie begins and it's a quiet movie so everyone in the theatre is respecting that and being quiet.Until two more kids run into the theatre all the way to the back to their friends and start saying in a really loud voice saying "I hate you guys! I can't believe you left us!" (keep in mind that was with annoying bad grammar and shrill voices). That was the last straw for me. I turned around and told them to save the talking for after the movie. Then they're quiet for two seconds and start up again I have to turn around again and pull the teacher/parent phrase "I wasn't kidding". So they're barely reasonably quiet for the rest of the movie and I spend half the movie turning around glaring at them.

Is it that much to ask that when you spend 9 dollars to go to a movie that the people in the theatre allow you to enjoy the movie? And I hate to say it but kids today seem to have no concept of manners and are filled with attitude. Now I'm not trying to generalize I know lots of nice kids with manners but it still seems the majority of kids today are not taught manners and respect.

Please when you go to a movie respect the other people in the theatre. If you want to waste nine dollars do it somewhere where you don't waste my nine dollars either.

NOTE: I am aware that I am 17 and therefore still technically a kid so don't bother trying to call me on it.