Countering counter-culture

Quite a few times already, going through your reader feedback, I was astonished to find the word “alternative” used to label this publication.

If so-called urban, self-aggrandizing counter-culturish posing makes a rag alternative, then I guess this is somewhat accurate. But I, and many others in the real world, define the term otherwise. A Quebecor-owned, weekly homage to popular culture, consumerism and all-around depravity, in the form of a 60-page public-sac, hardly represents an alternative to the mainstream.

Despite the addictive and often amusing qualities of this paper, a few sympathetic news items in The Front and the odd feature on hot social issues are not enough to obfuscate the fact that the Mirror’s main purpose is to keep the corporate train rolling through Montreal and all the way to the bank.

News flash: counter-culture is not alternative. It is the ultimate spin to insure that kids and wannabes keep spending their dough on the hippest, illest, freshest crap out there. For the sake of your mental equilibrium, snap out of it.

» Patrick Cadorette

Crazy drivers

In your Kristian Perspective of Feb. 2, Kristian Gravenor’s “Pedestrians vs. Cars,” some typical sites of jaywalking and crosswalk abuse by drivers are highlighted. But with the walker’s vulnerability in an impact with a two-ton vehicle, the burden of staying alive daunts the pedestrian.

Picture this likely scenario: A pedestrian is jaywalking. A driver is approaching while talking on his “hands-free” cell phone. The pedestrian is in full view of the driver, but the driver, whose mind is elsewhere, strikes the pedestrian. Clearly, the pedestrian was jaywalking and the driver was within the law. Case closed; the motorist is not charged—an altogether frequent and faulted judgement.

Regardless of the cell phone’s features—hands-free or otherwise—it demands complete interactivity, no lulls permitted. More so than eating, chatting with a passenger or listening to the radio, the cell phone can severely limit one’s attention. They are hazardous in traffic and therefore must be banned when driving. Before adjudicating any traffic mishap, driver impairment must be fully addressed, with cell phone use—regardless of phone type—ranking as top priority.

Jaywalking often becomes necessary due to the motorist blocking the pedestrian’s right-of-way at a signalled intersection. Motorists must wait for the light in back of and not within the intersection. Because of the total disregard for this consideration, a right-turn-on-red privilege must never be granted to Montreal motorists, who must rank as the world’s most abusive drivers.

» Edward Abramic

Extra-crazy drivers

Regarding Scott Saxon’s “Customer’s always right” Man Bites Dog column [Feb. 9, in which a man displeased with the price of his new car drove it through the dealership window and set it on fire]: The story doesn’t end there.

Saxon’s article presents an interesting side of the story, making sure to include the SUV, flammable liquid and someone finally standing up for himself. But it doesn’t just end with a first-degree arson charge. The man from South Florida who set his car on fire, Gerald Georgettis, was later found dead hanging from the lavatory ceiling aboard a United Airlines flight, the death an apparent suicide. That is the rest of the story, the “customer wasn’t right in the head” story.

» Mia, Los Angeles

Albertan francophobia

To the “Proud Albertan” who wrote on Feb. 9 [Letters, “Prairie perspectives]: Did you know that there was once a significant number of francophones out there in the Prairies, even in Alberta? Of course, they were outnumbered by anglophones, but their assimilation was also the result of something else, something that is still prevalent in North America today: francophobia rooted in a WASPpish, arrogant attitude. That’s why Quebecers (French Quebecers, more precisely) are so “insecure” about their culture.

» Patrick Béland

Disko fever

It’s frustrating that Raf Katigbak seems much less focused these days on promoting local events. What gives? While I think it’s interesting to know what he did in New York or what went wrong at the Juan Maclean show, I’m disappointed that he’s chosen not to highlight happenings around town. I know Raf is a big supporter of the scene, but I have a hard time believing that there was nothing worth plugging in the coming week.

» Chris Paré

West Island represent!

Does the West Island have a crest? I’m trying to throw together a cool tattoo design that incorporates Montreal and the West Island where I grew up. Any ideas?

» Tina T., West-Islander stuck in Chicago

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