The Ugly Canada Thread

[WhipperSnapper]

Originally Posted by O-tacular

Really? I find that very hard to believe.

More backwater small towns from which the OPP draws employment.

[WhipperSnapper]

Originally Posted by rousseau

Uhh...what? We got redneck dickwads in pickups here, no question, I live in a small enough city to see them around, but if someone tried "rolling coal" in Toronto they'd get set upon by bike messengers and the cops would be called by a hundred pedestrians.

I doubt they'd try it, because the last thing you want is to get caught in a traffic jam when you're supposed to be running away in a cloud of smoke, but there's simply no way that people in Toronto would laugh and ignore something like that.

Hell, even in a small place like Stratford many of us wouldn't put up with it. If traffic allowed for it I'd record it, get the license plate number and call the cops right away.

I responded before rolling coal was even introduced to the conversation. I'm speaking more in general of the types of assholes that carry a mini club in their back pockets and idolize Trump.

[240glt]

^ I spend a lot of time in the summer in a backwater small town in Central BC, and I can say I see far worse behaviour in my backwater big city than I do in the small towns

[WhipperSnapper]

That also depends what you look like. I'm, at this moment, speaking vicariously through my brother from another mother who immigrated from Africa, carries a thick accent and, has done well for himself through honest business. Albertans are brutishly clear with their racism. He has respect for that in an obscure way.

[240glt]

^ yeah, as I've learned from my Asian brother in law, looking different in those types of places can be a whole different reality

[Black Star]

Originally Posted by WhipperSnapper

That also depends what you look like. I'm, at this moment, speaking vicariously through my brother from another mother who immigrated from Africa, carries a thick accent and, has done well for himself through honest business. Albertans are brutishly clear with their racism. He has respect for that in an obscure way.

Most Albertans would give the shirt off their back for anybody. Including new Canadians.

My ex is black from Trinidad....she and her family have never been on the short end of the stick of Racism.

My wife is Muslim. Her and her family were sponsored by a Christian church here in Edmonton 15 years ago. She tells me she has never had any kind of Racism directed toward her in any capacity in Alberta.

[vid]

Northern Ontario is exempt from e-testing. We also have a subsidized licence fee, only half of what people in Southern Ontario pay. Which is ironic because our highway funding is a few times higher than theirs, per-capita.

As for the guy in the pickup truck, it's just impotent rage and a desire to feel young again by beating up someone he considers weaker than him. The guy on the bike probably didn't provoke him at all, it was an old man. If it were a younger and more intimidating man the guy in the truck actually would have walked away, because all he was interested in was "winning".

Most of the people that try to scam us at my work are pickup truck driving men, usually over 40 and always white. And I say this as a pickup truck driver. It's gotten to the point where at my work—all males in Northern Ontario, several of whom drive pickup trucks—simply walking to the back with a trashed water jug and saying "pickup truck" is responded to with an understanding nod.

Meanwhile as a cyclist as well, I actually give people on bikes space, and the other day had someone thank my as they passed my house a few minutes after I passed them (properly, by travelling at their speed until it was safe to pass and making a legal lane change to get around them before reaching a normal speed). It was a good thing I did too because the truck behind me was driving aggressively (he passed me and sped off at high speed) and if I wasn't there, he might have not been so kind to the cyclist.

[rousseau]

Originally Posted by niwell

The testosterone / adrenaline thing rings true for me as someone who commutes almost solely by biking. Lately I've been trying to force myself to just let things go though. This goes both for asshole drivers that threaten my life and idiot cyclists who obliviously blow through red lights or cut me off. If I've had a rough day or just in a bad mood sometimes I slip and yell at someone. It's satisfying in the moment but often not really a great idea.

In spite of what I wrote above, I'm really trying to develop a more zen attitude to conflict and confrontation when I'm on my bike. Lately I've remained calm and said my piece in a concise manner without responding to their reaction, making it just a quick one-off instead of a protracted give-and-take conversation that invariably gets more heated.

I understand both intellectually and from experience that the benefits are threefold: 1) you don't escalate the situation; 2) you'll probably be more convincing; 3) you'll feel better about yourself for having retained some dignity in a public interaction.

(At risk of going off on an inappropriate political tangent, I think this is part of the reason that the social justice warrior subset of the progressive left is turning into such a cringeworthy laughingstock--not only is the hysterical overreaction to every perceived nano-slight melding into a ball of white noise that people are tuning out, but the heightened surveillance for aggressions and offences combined with the shouty witch-hunts and protests produce a head-space that can't possibly be healthy, and probably does real psychological harm.)

[Loco101]

Originally Posted by vid

Northern Ontario is exempt from e-testing. We also have a subsidized licence fee, only half of what people in Southern Ontario pay. Which is ironic because our highway funding is a few times higher than theirs, per-capita.

As for the guy in the pickup truck, it's just impotent rage and a desire to feel young again by beating up someone he considers weaker than him. The guy on the bike probably didn't provoke him at all, it was an old man. If it were a younger and more intimidating man the guy in the truck actually would have walked away, because all he was interested in was "winning".

Most of the people that try to scam us at my work are pickup truck driving men, usually over 40 and always white. And I say this as a pickup truck driver. It's gotten to the point where at my work—all males in Northern Ontario, several of whom drive pickup trucks—simply walking to the back with a trashed water jug and saying "pickup truck" is responded to with an understanding nod.

Meanwhile as a cyclist as well, I actually give people on bikes space, and the other day had someone thank my as they passed my house a few minutes after I passed them (properly, by travelling at their speed until it was safe to pass and making a legal lane change to get around them before reaching a normal speed). It was a good thing I did too because the truck behind me was driving aggressively (he passed me and sped off at high speed) and if I wasn't there, he might have not been so kind to the cyclist.

What is your job? We probably have different jobs but where I work we have the same sort of thing with the same type of men trying to scam us.

[vid]

I sell water jugs and filtration systems. We have a $10 deposit on the water jugs, and that's why they use to scam us. Anything from stealing empty bottles from our customers or the yard, to trying to cash in competitors bottles and have us pay them out. About two dozen unusable bottles get into our stream every week, and all of them have to be thrown into the garbage since we can't recycle that type of plastic in this region. (Our local plastic facility can't recycle any container larger than 2 gallons, apparently. Recycling is absurdly limited here.)

Most of our customers are in rural areas where they don't have potable water, and that tends to be the home base of pickup truck driving middle aged white men who try to cheat us out of bottle deposits. It happens a couple times a day. I actually made one cry once when I pointed out that our policy on bottles full of dead insects and mould was to not pay out the deposit. We've started taking contact information of everyone we pay out and some of them get really upset about it.

[O-tacular]

Originally Posted by WhipperSnapper

That also depends what you look like. I'm, at this moment, speaking vicariously through my brother from another mother who immigrated from Africa, carries a thick accent and, has done well for himself through honest business. Albertans are brutishly clear with their racism. He has respect for that in an obscure way.

Naheed Nenshi would like to have a word with you...

I've seen more instances of extreme racism out of Eastern Canada of late than Alberta or anywhere in the prairies.

[lio45]

Originally Posted by vid

The guy on the bike probably didn't provoke him at all, it was an old man.

Depends on how you define "provoke", but I'm pretty certain the guy on the bike made a conscious decision to stop and engage "Club Guy". I don't see how "Bike Guy" would have possibly gotten caught by a guy on foot, except willingly.

If "Bike Guy" had decided "screw this guy, I'm just going to ignore him and continue pedaling at my full speed in the direction I was headed" I don't see how it could've gotten to the point of clubbing.

[Loco101]

Originally Posted by vid

I sell water jugs and filtration systems. We have a $10 deposit on the water jugs, and that's why they use to scam us. Anything from stealing empty bottles from our customers or the yard, to trying to cash in competitors bottles and have us pay them out. About two dozen unusable bottles get into our stream every week, and all of them have to be thrown into the garbage since we can't recycle that type of plastic in this region. (Our local plastic facility can't recycle any container larger than 2 gallons, apparently. Recycling is absurdly limited here.)

Most of our customers are in rural areas where they don't have potable water, and that tends to be the home base of pickup truck driving middle aged white men who try to cheat us out of bottle deposits. It happens a couple times a day. I actually made one cry once when I pointed out that our policy on bottles full of dead insects and mould was to not pay out the deposit. We've started taking contact information of everyone we pay out and some of them get really upset about it.

Your work is quite different than mine but I totally deal with the type of guys who try to pull off the same stuff. Those types of guys never liked being questioned or challenged.

I can't get into specifics but I work in government services and deal with people applying for financial assistance. It is almost entirely white men who lie on paperwork about income and other information. They think they can qualify for benefits by not being truthful. The funny thing is that they are too stupid to realize that the form they signed gives consent for me to verify their information with the CRA and other provincial government departments and agencies.

And almost all of them drive pickup trucks and many of them are new and expensive ones. I can find out what vehicles they own. I have to be polite and professional with my clients and it's sometimes interesting to see how they try to change their stories or make excuses when I ask why the information from my checks doesn't match what they claimed on the application forms.


Getting back to the topic of this thread:

Who can find the ugliest pickup truck in Canada! I don't necessarily mean run down but also ugly in design, decor, driver, etc.

[Proof Sheet]

Originally Posted by Loco101

Who can find the ugliest pickup truck in Canada! I don't necessarily mean run down but also ugly in design, decor, driver, etc.

To me, pickup trucks are fundamentally ugly and I don't have much in common with those who willingly purchase them (to me unless you're a farmer or construction worker/contractor I don't see the point in them), but these are the creme de la creme in fugly.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chevrolet_Avalanche#/media/File:1st-Chevrolet-Avalanche.jpg

[SignalHillHiker]

Here, the worst have black everything, including heavily tinted windows. Raised. Alberta plates with an island of Newfoundland outline map on the back window.

Occupant is either:

1. 50+, short, pot-bellied, brand name racing jacket, Dad jeans, and age inappropriate sneakers.

2. Young, ripped, annoyingly hot, baseball cap, white sunglasses, tattoo somehow related to female relatives, pastel t-shirt, jeans that are just too dark or too light to be current, work boots.

3. Female, resembling either of these.

[O-tacular]

Originally Posted by lio45

Depends on how you define "provoke", but I'm pretty certain the guy on the bike made a conscious decision to stop and engage "Club Guy". I don't see how "Bike Guy" would have possibly gotten caught by a guy on foot, except willingly.

If "Bike Guy" had decided "screw this guy, I'm just going to ignore him and continue pedaling at my full speed in the direction I was headed" I don't see how it could've gotten to the point of clubbing.

I don't think you can really blame someone for being assaulted. The attacker always has a choice. And there's even less of an excuse when said attacker carries around a weapon with them just in case they need to settle any arguments...

[O-tacular]

Originally Posted by Proof Sheet

To me, pickup trucks are fundamentally ugly and I don't have much in common with those who willingly purchase them (to me unless you're a farmer or construction worker/contractor I don't see the point in them), but these are the creme de la creme in fugly.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chevrolet_Avalanche#/media/File:1st-Chevrolet-Avalanche.jpg

Like a modern El Camino.

[kwoldtimer]

Originally Posted by Proof Sheet

To me, pickup trucks are fundamentally ugly and I don't have much in common with those who willingly purchase them (to me unless you're a farmer or construction worker/contractor I don't see the point in them), but these are the creme de la creme in fugly.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chevrolet_Avalanche#/media/File:1st-Chevrolet-Avalanche.jpg

The bigger challenge, imho, would be to find a pick-up (what the heck, or SUV!) that ISN'T ugly.

[Proof Sheet]

Originally Posted by kwoldtimer

The bigger challenge, imho, would be to find a pick-up (what the heck, or SUV!) that ISN'T ugly.

Do these count?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Land_Rover#/media/File:Landrover2a.jpg

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Citro%C3%A...e_Company_van_(JHU_92N),_8_June_2013.jpg really a van but I think they are quite nice in appearance

[Proof Sheet]

Originally Posted by SignalHillHiker

jeans that are just too dark or too light to be current,

Too dark. Too light. Not sure how narrow the acceptable jean colour spectrum is here.