People are a bit strange these days. I was in downtown Toronto yesterday having a casual sushi lunch with friends. Passing by the street corner near University Ave. we noticed the huge crowds and massive amount of police in the area. A lady told us it was for the Anti-Trump/Women's March protest that was going on. Apparently it is a very big event, but since I live under a cave, I was oblivious to how big this got.
Like all movements and protests, I'm sure the folks have important notions they wish to be brought into attention. A few glances at the posters and signs gave me just that. While I salute their dedication and courage in the matter. There is one thing that disturbed me more than anything else.
I'm not an environmentalist or a tree-hugger. In fact, I'm far from that. Having studied in engineering and having the unfortunate opportunity to sit in a semester of energy policies course taught by a guy working for Green Peace, I have a pretty good idea about what's real and what falls under the hypocritical community of pretentious "green" scammers that go around.
That aside, while walking around downtown after my overly gluttonous sushi lunch, I noticed the disturbing amount of trash left behind on street corners from the march. Posters and signs dumped beside street poles, TTC stops, etc. While I understand there is a thing going on about leaving behind all the signs in front of Trump's hotel to force his gang to read them and get a point across, I don't think Trump lives in any Toronto street poles or TTC stops.
I understand a majority of the ladies marching through the movement probably took their signs and have plans for properly disposing them, or keep the posters as a memento for this event. It is just sad to see individuals lacking common sense or maturity trashing our beautiful city and putting a stain on what otherwise is a legitimate movement for promoting a cause. While I'm sure the same scenario occurs in other protests, individual behaviors like this will always have an overall negative impact on the whole movement and overshadow everyone's efforts. A movement like this is meant to inform and educate, not to leave behind a bunch of trash so others can trash talk for weeks to come.
C'mon ladies, we are better than this. Recycle your posters and signs and keep our city clean.
