Sharkboy

On our morning walk today, going from Garage Sale to Garage Sale, I noticed how different neighborhoods are dealing with their local city garbage bins. I must say that people are being quite respectful in our neck of the wood:

Day 13 – The Plastic Bag Solution at Carlton and Parliament

Day 13 – The Box Solution at Yonge and Charles

Day 13 – The Band Aid Solution at Wellesley and Church

While taking this last picture, this fat woman sitting at the café nearby asked: “Are you taking pictures of the garbage? Whyyyyy?”
I just told her to mind her own business, but what I really wanted to reply was: “Because you’re fat”. It’s going to be my response to a lot of things in the future. That or “Because your mom drinks”. That should shut ‘em up.

Me, I don’t question what people do out loud, I just take note and they become blog content.

Day 12 – A local garbage truck…

Not a lot of positive things were happening today on the picket line. Not only are picketers tired, they are now showing up later and later as well… which I’m sure is being noticed by the management keeping an eye on all of us at the picket lines. They might be there sitting on their butts, smoking their “butts”, but everytime I get there at 7am, they are already there themselves.

Today, when our Steward showed up with the sign in sheets, she said that she didn’t have great news. She could only keep 10 people at this site, the rest all had to go to the location next door and show a stronger presence at the entrances to the parking lot or offices. There was no volunteers of course. I just looked around and counted very quickly and said: “There’s only 12 of us at this time, surely it won’t matter to have 2 more people here”. Still she asked for volunteers and 1 girl said she would go and left. I turned off my iPhone and took a sign to start the circle of strike once again. After a few turns, I asked our Steward why the sudden change of people needed at certain locations. She couldn’t tell me. She had asked herself and had not gotten a valid reason, just that they needed more “visibility” at City Hall.

About an hour later, a different union person I had never seen before came to talk to our Steward. I could see it wasn’t good news by the body language she was projecting. After she left, we were all asked to gather in a circle and told that due to “the difficulty” of finding a large presence of bodies downtown, they would stop having 3 different shifts for picketing and cut it down to 2 only and that the 7am to 11am shift would now move to one hour later… It’s not so much of a big deal, so I’ll picket from 8am until noon… but I wasn’t happy with the reason for this change… There are a lot of people ready to picket downtown, if only they’d stop telling us to do one thing one day, then another thing another. They just need to have a bit more structure and stick to it…

But just like when the office is open for business, gossip travels fast…

Around 10:30, word came to me that the reason all this change in shifts was happening because of strikers like me, who don’t mind being present on the picket lines but refuse to put themselves at risk by blocking entrances are now refusing to be at City Hall because they are forced to walk in front of the parking garage ramps or stand shoulders to shoulders at doors… Apparently there was a mutiny of sorts, and a bunch of people stood to the side yesterday and let anyone in that wanted to get in… So they’re trying to have the people who don’t mind doing door duties from 3 shifts concentrated on 2 shifts and the rest can just hold signs by the sides… it’s a strategy I guess.

As I understand it, our role is to educate the public as to the reasons why there is a strike right now, not piss them off even more. And I won’t chase people to ‘educate’ them either, but I will politely answer when asked a question for sure. Usually I respond: “We’re striking because we love our jobs”.

I’m always on the hunt for my daily garbage picture on my way to the picket line, I know I’ll always find one, but nothing prepared me for this:

Day 11 – Dundas & Yonge

Day 11 – Thirsty Plant

Day 11 – Dundas Square

Day 11 – Corny corner

Day 11 – I wonder how many people mistook the letter box for garbage

In all fairness, there was a huge event last night at Dundas Square honoring Michael Jackson and this is what was left after a very quick sweep I’m sure. This is not City property and all garbage touching the ground was swept and removed by the time I walked past 4.5 hrs later. But the City garbage bins are still very full and smelly.

Today, while walking the circle of strike, this gentleman of a certain age stopped by to have his say:

Older Gentleman: “It’s very unfair to the youth that you won’t go back to work”
Picketer 1: “What do you mean unfair to the youth, this strike is affecting a lot more than the youth, it’s affecting all of us living here”
Older Gentleman: “My daughter is supposed to be working right now and she can’t because of the strike and she won’t be able to pay for her University in September”
Picketer 1: “You really should tell the Mayor that”
Picketer 2: “The longer this goes, the less I can pay my mortgage next month”
Older Gentleman: (to Picketer 2, mocking Picketer 1) “You really should tell the Mayor that”
Picketer 2: “That’s what we’re doing”
Me: “I hope your daughter enjoys the Summer”

And with that I was done. What a dick head. Have your say, but don’t mock people for doing what they have to do in a situation that is out of their control.

A little bit of good news trickled our way today: the City and the Union were actually sitting together yesterday until 1am and going back at 9am today, and we’re told that very minor items were agreed upon, so the wheels are finally rolling, but there seems to be a long way to go.

Day 9 – Someone didn’t get the memo at Dundas and Bay

With the dark skies menacing of rain, I made my way to my circle of strike once more. I was still surprised to see that people have garbage bags in front of their businesses or houses. Seriously, turn on the news, they will not be picked up for a bit, and the $180 ticket you can get for it is not going to be fun. And then screeeeeeeeeech. This woman driving while talking on her cell phone saw me at the very last minute and pumped the breaks luckily for me, and threw her phone on the passenger seat. Although my heart almost skipped a beat, I knew that yelling at her wouldn’t have any effect, her eyes bulging out of her head were sign enough she’d probably drive to her destination while paying more attention. I gave her the finger though, she was not gonna get away with a free pass.

A few minutes after starting the circle of strike, the sun came out. People were in a good mood or just minding their own business today, it was a good day for picketers. If only that paid well…

About a half hour before the end of our shift, this gentleman from the union showed up to give us a quick update on what is going on:

Union Rep: Hey everyone, can we gather in a small circle for a quick chat?
Me: Do you have good news for us?
Union Rep: No, not today, but hopefully soon. Just want to tell you that we are still sitting in that room and trying to work this out. It’s hard when you’re the only one talking though. We all want to thank you for your efforts on the picket line.
Picketer 1: Do you think this will be resolved soon?
Union Rep: It’s not looking great at this time for a quick resolution. I’m not sure if you guys saw it on the news yesterday, but the mayor is getting cranky with the press. And if the mayor is getting cranky it’s because something is getting to him.
Picketer 2: Is it true they are keeping this going so that they can save the money they need for the new streetcars?
Union Rep: Ahahah, that’s a new one. I doubt that very much, although it’s true they are saving a lot of money right now. We all think that this bad ideas of putting garbage station in the parks will backfire on them, already the public is fighting within each other at certain locations and it’s looking bad for the mayor. (silence, no more questions) And please keep up your good work daily in the meantime, your presence here is very appreciated.

As he was about to leave, a few of us wanted more information:

Me: Can I ask you something about the strike pay? I won’t be coming on the picket line tomorrow and someone told me that if I miss one shift I won’t get paid at all for the week.
Union Rep: That’s bullshit, you will be paid for every visit, it comes to about $40 a day.
Me: Ah ok, thanks for clarifying this up for me, because apparently when we’re back here on Thursday, someone wants us to go block the management, agents, officers’ entrance in the back and I won’t do this. I spend enough time being yelled at while I’m at work, I won’t do it while on strike. At least, while I work, I get paid for it.
Union Rep: Where do you work bud?
Me: (giving him the exact location and job title)
Union Rep: This is the guy! Everyone, this is a guy with one of the worst jobs in the city. Shit man, I’ve been in that office, I know exactly what you’re talking about.
Me: Well… I think everyone here have their own nightmare stories, but thanks. I wish my boss would see it your way too.
Union Rep: Trust me, after this he will see it that way for sure. You will feel the love. I was there last Friday to check it out as there’s no picketing there and the mood in that waiting room was awful.
Me: I keep thinking I want to go see what it’s like for myself one of these days.
Union Rep: If you do, let me know if there are any staff crossing the picket line, you know what I mean, if there are any scabs.
Me: huh…. mmmmm… I make a very bad spy, I could never do that.
Union Rep: It’s just a thought if you go there.
Me: Wouldn’t HR give you this information? (and then realized how stupid that comment was)
Union Rep: Not while we’re at “war”…
Union Rep’s Friend: Have you ever thought of becoming a Steward?
Me: ah no… not for me… I’m one of those people that go to work on time and like to leave on time. At 5pm, it’s home time only until my next shift starts.

After they went away, Picketer 1 turned to me and said: “We’re totally getting the mushroom treatment. They keep us in the dark and feed us shit.”

Day 8 – This looks like it was in someone’s backyard for a bit and brought to the sidewalk overnight… tsk tsk.

5:30 am came really quickly this morning.
Last evening, I was in a bar, drinking and laughing with my mind far away for reality. Ouch.

When I arrived at Old City Hall this morning shortly before 7am, I wasn’t greeted by my fellow picketers, oh no, they might show up in 15 – 30 minutes, but this was my view as I sat on the steps:

2 people sleeping on the sidewalks of Bay and Queen St W, with many early risers walking past not taking any notice of them. But regardless of all this, I knew today was going to be a very peaceful one. I had my coffee in hand, I would patiently wait until our Steward showed up and I was going to enjoy the semi-silence for as long as it would last.

And I was right, it was a very peaceful morning. I chatted with some interesting people I had not seen in the first week, one gentleman a retired tattoo artist who now works for Parks and Recreation was not only very engaging in his story-telling, but he also took 15 minutes to give us all a quick Tai Chi lesson, something he teaches it during his spare time.

Ah, the Tai Chi of Strike. Delicious. I might ask him to give us another lesson tomorrow.

The only sourly moment came when I walked to Eaton Centre to use the facilities. I had an empty Starbucks cup in my hand and threw it in one of the garbage cans right at the revolving doors. I was wearing my CUPE 79 lanyard with the big CUPE 79 button attached to it and this woman smoking by the doors saw me and lashed out:

Smoking Woman: You should throw your trash in your own garbage can. That’s what you want us all to do, right?
Me: (Eyes rolling loudly)
Smoking Woman: We pay taxes for you to do your job, stop acting like (bitches or babies, can’t be sure exactly what she said, but I’ll assume it was babies) and go back to work
Me: We all want to go back to work but it’s out of our hands
Smoking Woman: (noises under her breath)
Me: And I pay taxes too you know… and part of my taxes will go to that doctor who will treat your lung cancer one day.

I didn’t let this woman get to me, she’s an ignorant person who doesn’t know better. I can’t blame her either, she’s uninformed because no one is really talking about it….

On my way back, I saw this on Queen St W:

I don’t know why a pair of handcuffs were on this grill, or maybe it’s a new type of bike lock, but I know it didn’t deter this pizza eater from throwing his garbage around the tree anyway.

Day 7 – To the rim

I am not walking the picket lines today, the weekends are sacred Me and DR Time. We will have a delicious breakfast and then we’ll go and and visit Church St and see friends and… wait a minute… Church St during Pride is EXACTLY the same thing I’ve been doing all week!!! I just march up and down the same old street, see the same people, a little action happen here, a little action happen there. Shit, the only difference is I’m not wearing a Local 79 sign with a message within a group of people who think alike, I’m wearing a cute t-shirt with a message within a group of people who think alike…

One girl walking the circle of strike earlier this week was chatting with friends about the upcoming Pride celebration, she said that her Pride Wish was that we got back to work with a fair contract, she didn’t want to get laid, she just wanted a fair contract. Let’s hope for all our sake that she, in fact, didn’t get laid.

Happy Pride!

Day 5 – Our green spaces with green bags

And the tempers? They are a-flaring today!

Same routine today, biked to City Hall, found my garbage picture of the day along the way, got my coffee and waited for the signing sheets to arrive. I’m becoming more and more annoyed with this as I’m not seeing any real signs of negotiations from either party. So as a result, not only will I not block any entrances, but I will not start walking until I have signed in, so if our Stewards decide to arrive 30 – 45 minutes late, then I’ll be happy to listen to some catchy tunes until then.

At 8ish, after just a few rounds on the circle of strike, this dude with an air of importance decided to stop everyone and gather them in a group that he then divided in 2. He then explained that group A would now go to Old City Hall and group B would stay at City Hall and block parking entrances and front/back doors. (See, the jazz festival will be in full swing this afternoon and for this event they’ve erected a huge tent on Nathan Phillips Square, blocking any view from the street of the few hundred people walking with signs. I agree with the union, it’s really not effective at all to continue marching there) This one lady went ballistic and started raising her voice against this door blocking. And I echoed: “Good for you ma’am. I feel exactly the same”. And then it started:
Mean Union Woman: “So why are you picketing then if you don’t want to make people aware of it”
Me: “Well, our role here is to make people aware, not to piss them off or set them against us”
Mean Union Woman: “They’ll never learn if we don’t take time to tell them”
Me: “Obviously you haven’t been pushed enough this week. I have, and don’t want any more of it”
Mean Union Woman: “If people push you, you call the cops”
Me: “That WAS a cop”
Mean Union Woman: “Did you take his badge number?”
Me: “I’m sorry if I failed, but the gun on his belt made my brain stop and my knees shake”
Mean Union Woman: “That’s the problem, you need to report these things. And we have to tell people why we’re striking… Do you even know why we’re striking?”
Me: “Actually, not really. No one is telling us anything. That 100 pages of demands on the negotiation tables is really not clear exactly what we’re fighting for.”
Mean Union Woman: “Then you shouldn’t be here”
Me: “I don’t want to be here”
Me (then turning to my walking partner): “Wow, that’s a lot of noise coming out of such a small person.”

And I walked away as she babbled some more… Seriously though. I’m really not sure what it is our union has us marching for, except for Fair Contract. And that we want it now.

Mr. Mayor, it’s time you tell us the real story of what is going on. The fact that you announced 19 new garbage stations on Day 2 means that you had been planning for this strike to go on for a long time way before it even started. Mr. Mayor, your popularity is slipping down with everyone, not only have you lost the city’s union’s vote at the next election, but you’ve lost the votes of their spouses, their children who are old enough to vote, their neighbours who sympathize with them, and their neighbours’ spouses… You get the picture, right? Same goes for your Mr. Premier, you’re not making any fans fast with your cavalier approach to this strike by asking people to be patient. Both of you should take a little bicycle ride at 6:30am and smell how disgusting your city is right now after only a few days. It’s time everyone gets their head out of their asses, sit down at negotiation tables like grown-ups and discuss this seriously, while the people who were hired to provide services to the residents of Toronto go back to their daily duties.

Mr. Mayor and Mr. Premier, you really don’t need reminders that you promised us to work for the city and the province’s best interests if we elected you, do you? How is punishing 2.48 million residents achieving your electoral promises?

Oh and by the way, same goes to you Local 79. People are impatient, they want to go back to work because they are not being told why you can’t negotiate a fair contract. Tell us what the issues are, don’t hide behind a media black out. Ask your members how they feel on the issues. Make the general public understand why it is important to continue fighting, don’t put this in the hands of ill-informed people like me, on the front lines.

Today, some angry resident decided that he’d shit in a bag and bring it to Old City Hall and drop it, open, by the steps, to teach us all a lesson. I can tell you, it was not a pleasant moment for any of us.

Day 4 – It’s getting ripe

After the mad events of yesterday, I wasn’t sure I wanted to go back for more today, but I slept well and got up early and got on my bike to join the brotherhood. I had definitely made the decision to keep things light today and not get involved in anything other than walking in circle, drink my coffee, take a break, drink my water and bike home. That was my planned scheduled. But people keep insisting on giving me excuses to get involved… Good lord!

When I arrived, I went to Starbucks and then joined the circle of strike. I like the early walking shift because most people are sleepy and quiet and they just want to get this over with so they can go home before lunch. My kind of crowd. But not today, unfortunately we had a bunch of “happy” people who went home yesterday and decided to write a song for the picket line… and they were so proud of it that they actually printed the lyrics for everyone… I wanted none of it but the little troopers that they were started distributing the papers with lyrics to everyone who would take one explaining that it was to the tune of Okie Polkie…. and they started… very loudly…:
We want a fair contract
We want a fair contract
We want a fair contract
And we want it right nooooooooOOOOOOoooow
We’re never gonna give up
So hear us loud and clear
That’s what it’s all about
YOOOOOoooooo

and again…

After hearing this twice, I turned to the guys behind me and said: “Good lord, shoot me now”. They started to laugh and I continued “I’m not joking, just do it while I’m not looking”. After hearing it again and again, I turned around once more and asked why this one singer was wanting a “fair contact“, are her eyes bothering her? It took a few seconds then one girl started to laugh and said I was a bad boy for making fun of people’s accent.

A few circles later, I see this Steward, not the same one as yesterday, plucking another bunch of bigger guys out of the circle of strike, it’s clear he’s asking them to go and block some entrance. My mind is telling me to not get involved, but my mouth and my legs are saying otherwise, so I marched directly to that little group and piped in:
Me: Where are you asking these guys to go?
Steward: The entrance on Queen St
Me: Not the one for the exit of the parking lot by the subway I hope
Steward: No, the car entrance to the parking lot
Me (turning to the guys): It’s up to you guys, but there was violence involved in that area yesterday. All I can tell you is that if this guy (pointing to the steward) takes a break, you take a break, if he walks away, you walk away. He can’t ask us to stand there and block the way if he’s not going to be there to answer people’s questions.
Steward: I’m not leaving anyone alone there
Me: Good because that’s exactly what one of you did yesterday and it took less than 2 minutes for problems to start.

All eyes on me, uncomfortable silence, time for me to turn around and walk away. I noticed a couple of guys told him they’d stay in the circle of strike.

Seriously though, while talking to the guy who was with me yesterday when all the scary stuff happened, he said he’d talked to a couple of cops before leaving and they confirmed that union members have absolutely no right to stop anyone to enter or exit anywhere. We can request, if they say no, that’s it, they must be let through. So that solidified my stance on that, never ever will I help with any entrances, my 5 minutes in hell yesterday will last me a lifetime.

After that, it was just mind numbing walking experience while texting with DR or surfing Disney trivia websites and me looking at these unmatching socks:

…until this guy came in:

Armed with a megaphone, he thought it would be a great idea to shout insults at the circle of strike… I hate loud noises, I hate loud noisemakers even more… As I walk passed him and he shouted the word “ASSHOLES” to us, I said: “Hey, there’s 400 of us and 1 of you, and I can tell there’s a couple of women PMSing in that corner, you better watch what you say” Which got some laughs from the peanut gallery but also attracted this security guy to come and talk to him quietly for a bit and the guy finally left… Far enough in the distance later on we all heard on a megaphone type voice: “Fuck You City Hall” and then there was silence again.

And then:
We want a fair contract
We want a….

Day 3 – I really don’t know what to say about this one!!!

It’s getting violent out there.

Today started pretty well, the sun is gloriously out and it’s very warm. Good day for a 4 hour walk really. And so we did. To the right first, then to the left and so on. A pee break here, a bottle of water there.

Around 10am, 3 hours into my walking tour of duty in the circle of strike, someone came to me and asked if I could help with water bottles. I thought she wanted me to take some and distribute them to other walkers so I followed her, but oh no, there was a truck in the back that was delivering and they needed people to bring them to the front. When I arrived at the location, there must have been 250 cartons of 24 bottles… and 3 other guys. Immediately I asked where the dollies were but sadly they wanted us to carry them by hand… I took 2 cartons and walked… I dropped them at the front of City Hall and asked one of the steward to get some people together to help out, his response was that he couldn’t leave his post and that I should go and get some people myself. Yeah, right. I walked back and got 2 more cartons. And 2 more. And 2 more. I opened one of them and took a bottle out and thank the steward for his assistance and then went to sit down in the shade for a bit. At 10:30, I thought it was time to go back in the circle of strike. After one time around, this other steward came to me directly and asked if I could help at one of the entrances, I asked what was wrong with it and he says there wasn’t anyone marching there. So like an idiot, not having learn from my frist mistake that morning, I followed him, I also noticed he had recruited another guy.

Once there, he said: “Ok, you have to stop people coming in and out of the parking garage, let them wait 5 or 10 minutes and if anyone pushes you out of the way, call the cops”. And then he left telling us he was going to recruit other men. Jesus fucking christ what exactly is he expecting to happen? Is there a little history here???

The answer is yes.

The very first people we asked to stop were wearing business suit and those rolly thingies that look like what lawyers carry when they go to court:
Union Guy: Can you guys please wait for just a few minutes
Suited Guy: What the hell for?
Union Guy: Because of the strike, all business with City Hall is interrupted
Suited Guy: Nothing to do with me, get out of my way
Union Guy (raises his hand to chest level as the international sign for “stop”)
Suited Guy (rams chest first into him and pushes him out of the way, his friend takes this opportunity to walk passed as well)
Me: It’s starting well!
Union Guy: Where is that douche bag that brought us here and then just took off?
In the meantime, this young lady tries to exit the parking lot
Me: I’m sorry Ma’am, we’re asking people to wait for a few minutes
Young Lady: Is this for the strike?
Me: Yeah, all entrances to City Hall are moderated
Young Lady: I understand, do you know how long I’ll have to wait
Me: One minute or two, not long.
All of a sudden, out of nowhere, this scrawny woman appears and shoves herself between Young Lady and Me and pushes through.
Me: Ma’am, we’re asking people to please wait a few minutes before entering
Scrawny One: I have a meeting
Me: It will be a minute only please, to respect the City Workers
Scrawny One (pushes herself through and yells): If you don’t like your job, go find another one asshole
Me: We’re doing this because we like our jobs, otherwise, we’d go find another
Young Lady: What a bitch!
Me: Well, your one or two minute just turned into 15 seconds, you can go in, thanks for understanding.

At this time, Suited Guy who had gone into his car and drove in our direction, parked in front of us, got out of his car, walked straight at me and Union Guy. He didn’t have his jacket on anymore and the gun on his belt was now VERY visible. He raised his finger at Union Guy’s face and said: “You know that when you raise your hand at someone and shoves him out of the way, it’s called assault, you better watch yourself for the other ones coming this way”.

I don’t know about you, but the sight of guns make me very shaky. I don’t like them around me one bit. My knees started to shake immediately.

After he got back in his car, I turn to Union Guy and say: “Why didn’t he just say he was a cop, if anyone, he should understand what unions stand for and of course we would have never stopped him on his business. Why couldn’t he just show his badge in the first place? Union Guy had no answer. I had no answer either, except that I thought his intimidation tactics were very cowardly.

We had been there 5 minutes and I told Union Guy that I didn’t sign up for that shit and I told him that the Douche can find other people to do his dirty work, we were both done with this door duty.

We went back to the circle of strike and signed out for the day, I was still very troubled and frankly, I think he was too.

I biked home and now, even an hour later, my knees are still queezy. I can’t believe a cop pulled that on us, walking to us and intimidating us with a gun on his belt like that, threatening us with assault when he damn well know he’s the one that pushed his way into one of us. I mean, he never really put his hand on the gun at any time, but he must have known that it was very visible on his light grey pants and white shirt.

On a lighter note, I also saw this guy biking around, demonstrating in his own way:

Day 2 – Did they really think the City wouldn’t find out who put this illegal garbage in front of their place? Let’s see how it looks tomorrow.

And so it continues…

Today was my first official day as a picketer walking the lines. I have been through 2 other strikes before this one, the first as a contract employee, so I still had to cross to go to work, the second as management, and again, had to cross to go to work. Both times were not pleasant. This time around, I’m actually wearing the union logo on my shirt, carrying a sign on my back, and walking in circle aimlessly. I’m scheduled 4 days per week from 7am to 11am. Luckily for me, the crowd of strikers this early in the morning are pretty tired and subdued and don’t really want to be chanting or playing any kind of noise-makers, so it’s a nice quiet time. People walk with co-workers and chat, and then every once in awhile, someone will ask to change direction, so like mindless zombies, we all turn and start circling the other way.

It’s simple.

It’s fucking tiring too…

Man, you just walk and walk and walk for 4 hours. And if you need to go to the bathroom, good luck. They’re not letting us use the ones inside City Hall (with good reasons of course) and you have to find one in a coffee shop, or a mall, or a hotel. Good excuse for a break, but goddammit, you have to WALK all the way there too…

To my big surprise, I saw and heard a lot of thing I never expected to see and hear today:

- There was this homeless who came inside the circle and started yelling at us… just randomly calling us motherfuckers and then he was escorted away until he reappeared barefoot in the fountain yelling some more;
- There was this guy who apparently bikes through Nathan Phillips Square daily to get to work and saw all the strikers walking around in circle. He put his bicycle down and joined in, telling us he agrees with the union and understands what the fight is about and that there are a lot of people that thinks like he does. He mentioned he also works for a union in the hotel business;
- There were buses of tourists dropping by to see City Hall but couldn’t really get in as the line-up was way too long for the time they had, so like good tourists do, they snapped pictures after pictures of us walking with our signs;
- I finally found an open bathroom at Sheraton Hotel across the street and as I’m going about my business, I notice this girl come in with her union t-shirt on, and by girl I mean Alpha Bull Dyke, and she smirks and said in a very manly voice: “Too many dolls in the girls lew”. I wasn’t sure what to say to that so I went: “Help yourself.” I might have felt a shiver too, can’t be sure;
- After 4 hours of walking in a circle, please do not stand in the way of a striker wanting to sign out and go home. Mind you if it was more organized, it might be better, but still, there’s no reason to push people out of your way or grab a pen out of someone’s hand just so you can be on the first subway out of there. What happened to all the “brotherhood” we just lived?;
- Walking home with my union t-shirt on, I realized quickly it was a mistake as one guy in a business suit on Bay St said loudly: “Better hurry, you’re not a very popular person around here”. I scratched my forehead with my middle finger in his direction.

Me trying to get some shade. A few minutes after this picture was taken, I was “asked” to wear a union logo shirt and to bring it every day

One other thing that baffled me today is how the media is trying to get an edge on each other by coming up with an angle that is their own only… On CP24 this morning, they were going on about how this was Day 2 of the strike, but it was really Day 1 of garbage not being picked up… HUH??? Did they fail math en mass over there? If it’s Day 2 of the strike, it’s the same for any service not being, well, serviced. Oh CP24, how you amuse me.