Ohlamepics

So here we are just a few days shy of the olympics and here I am just as cynical as ever about them. I thought I might get more excited as they approach but it has been hard with all the negative media surrounding it here. On top of the media I have heard some mind-blowing personal stories of interactions with VanOC and it has kind of soured me on the whole thing.

I do think its cool that the whole world will be watching us, but it seems that in order to put on our best we must make a lot of sacrifices of the financial variety. Downtown is now closed to traffic as dozens of volunteers line the streets looking for something to do. People who live and work in Vancouver have to figure out on their own how to get there and how to get out. You are no longer allowed to take your bike on the Skytrain, no longer allowed to do a lot of the normally allowable. I suspect you are no longer allowed to be homeless either.

I dont plan on going anywhere near the Olympics when they are here. I will sit at home and watch them in HD with a better seat than those who paid 3000 for gold medal game tickets courtesy of legalized scalping on the Olympic website (in which VanOC gets a 20% cut, natch) with a beer that I bought at the store for 10% the cost of what one will be in the stadium. As I do this I can sit on my couch at any time without having to go through airport security at GM Place or BC place... or Whistler... or the Oval in Richmond.

To be honest it is not the sports themselves but the nature of the event. Looking at the money spent here on all these venues one cant help but feel a little ashamed. After Expo 86 I never would have thought I would see this again in Vancouver and yet here we are spending billions of dollars when most Olympics are not profitable. Expo at least brought the world to us and helped Vancouver to really grow, I am not sure what the benefit of this event will be yet. I DO hope things go well as I love the city of my birth. I may live in Surrey but my heart lives in Vancouver, it is the most beautiful city in the world to me. I just dont want its reputation tarnished as the world watches.