麻豆视频

Public Shaming Parking Perps

By Lynne Bell

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听听听听听听听听听听听 A Global TV news report about a disabled Moncton man aired almost a month ago. However, since this is an (ahem) family newspaper, I've delayed commenting on it until now, so my boiling blood could return to room temperature and my language would veer on the correct side of colourful.

听听听听听听听听听听听 Hugo St.-Pierre has become so frustrated by able-bodied drivers using designated parking spots reserved for diasbled drivers with permits that he has taken his crusade directly to Moncton's parking lots and posts the results of his in-person awareness campaign online.

听听听听听听听听听听听 And the results aren't pretty.

听听听听听听听听听听听 St.-Pierre-who must use a wheelchair after a 2004 motorcycle accident made him a parapalegic-says the city's wheelchair-accessible parking spots are continually used by able-bodied drivers who don't have a permit, telling Global TV's Shelley Steeves: 鈥淚t's an issue I have every day, like every place that I go... I want people to understand it's not respecting handicap parking (spaces) and handicap people in general.鈥�

听听听听听听听听听听听 He adds that accessible parking spots are-at least-a foot wider than regular parking spots for a valid reason.

听听听听听听听听听听听 鈥淚 need my door to be open a little bit wider and especially for people in a wheelchair that need (to use) a lift, that takes a lot of space on the side, people don't realize that.鈥�

听听听听听听听听听听听 St.-Pierre says he has come close to being injured several times, as his wheelchair is 鈥渓ow鈥� and he's in danger of cars not seeing him as they back out if he parks alongside them in a regular spot.

听听听听听听听听听听听 Sadly, very few people apologize when he approaches them. Instead, they defend the indefensible with varying degrees of rude, antisocial behavior. On the milder end of this continuum, people simply make excuses and/or drive away. At the other end of this shameful scale, St.-Pierre-whose approach is firm, but not at all aggressive-has been sworn at and swung at-with one charming young woman even throwing -count 'em-two cups of coffee at him from the safety of her SUV.

听听听听听听听听听听听 In New Brunswick, fines for parking in a designated wheelchair accessible parking spot can reach $125, which doesn't seem like much of a deterrent. Shaming via social media isn't something I'm normally in favour of, but I suspect higher fines may not work with people that are so shockingly self-involved and selfish.

听听听听听听听听听听听 Maybe the modern version of medieval stocks in the town square might work, but I'm not entirely optimistic.

听听听听听听听听听听听 After all, you can't fix... oh nevermind...

听听听听听听听听听听听听

Is public shaming effective?

By Kelly Running

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听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听 It鈥檚 an amazing thing, how people act towards each other. In Moncton a man, Hugo St. Pierre, who uses a wheelchair decided to videotape violators who park in wheelchair accessible parking sites. He then posted the video of the confrontations online. His exploration of this topic resulted in coming close to serious injury as drivers were angered about being approached.

听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听 The issue is one that happens everywhere. Many people drive around looking for a spot and notice the vacant wheelchair accessible sites available. Some think they can get away with it, while others simply don鈥檛 care what the sign says as nobody is ever parked there anyway.

听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听 A representative from Ability New Brunswick, Haley Flaro, told Global News, 鈥淧eople using accessible parking [spaces] when they don鈥檛 need them can become a safety risk. We have had people with a disability parking in another locations where there is not adequate pathways or curb cuts and have to go behind vehicles. We have seen people injured or get in accidents that way.鈥�

听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听 For St. Pierre it is disrespectful to the people in need of those spaces: 鈥淚 need my door to be open a little bit wider and especially for people in a wheelchair that need a lift, that takes a lot of space on the side, people don鈥檛 realize that.鈥�

听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听 Although I find it terrible that this is happening and am likely to park as far away from the storefront in a parking lot as possible because I am able, the topic Lynne and I landed on this week is actually public shaming. St. Pierre, videotaped confrontations with individuals and posted it online to shame them. This is a trend which has become quite popular.

听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听 I hadn鈥檛 really thought about it a whole lot before. I鈥檝e seen these shaming videos before. One involved a set up of two people: the one a Caucasian male and the other a man of Middle Eastern decent. The Caucasian male was verbally assaulting the Middle Eastern man, and the idea was to see how people would react. Those conducting the video were surprised by how many told the Caucasian male to back down or stop, while one passerby even started to physically assault the Caucasian male for harassing the Middle Eastern man.

听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听 The second video that stands out in my mind was of a teenager, again the video was a setup, pretending to be a homeless youth. He was largely ignored by most of society, getting some change here or there, but most overlooked him. As the video rolls, a homeless man comes up to the teenager (who isn鈥檛 dressed for the weather and looking rather cold) and gives the boy his jacket. Again the people making the video were surprised by no one really stopping for a shivering youth, except for a homeless man who felt the kid needed the jacket more than he did.

听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听 Both videos were done to shame those that refused to help and to bring the issue to light of racism and homelessness, much like the shaming of those who park in accessible spaces that don鈥檛 actually need to be parked there.

听 听 听 听 听 听 听 听听Although public shaming isn鈥檛 something I condone, I do believe that it does bring attention to issues which people are passionate about and they might make people think about their actions a little bit more. But how can a society come to the point of needing to be publicly shamed in the first place? Just follow the golden rule, 鈥淒o unto others as you would have done unto you.鈥澨�