I really couldn't believe what I was watching on TV. I kept thinking that it was some kind of joke or that it was all just going to end quickly but to my horror it didn't. I had just been downtown an hour earlier watching the Stanley Cup Final in the Fan Zone at Georgia and Hamilton. Me and a couple of girls had headed downtown early so we could get good seats in front of one of the screens downtown so we could be in on the action of the final. Of course I am a Blackhawks fan but the next best team to the Hawks is the Canucks so I was excited to watch the final between the Canucks and the Bruins and wanted to see the Canucks come out on top. Megan and I had spent at least 2 hrs searching for a place to watch the game downtown and decided to go to the Fan Zone and watch it there. We waited for Mairi to arrive and after she did we just sat and chatted and people watched the thousands of people around us. We did realize that there were a lot of drunk people around us. God must have been watching over us and wanting to protect us from what was going to happen because Mairi left right before the game was going to start to get a coffee and some snacks and when she left the fan zone they didn't tell her she wasn't going to be let back in because they had to many people in the fan zone. So once she tryed to get back in she had to call Megan and tell her that she wasn't able to get back in. So Megan and I left and met up with Mairi and then we walked to Canada Place to watch the game. We arrived at Canada Place and it was extremely busy as well. I decided that after the first period I would head back to my parents house I was really tired and hungry and didn't want to stand around anymore.
I headed home and was happy to watch the game in the comfort of my parents home. But Ben had decided to head downtown and watch the game as well. Unfortunately due to all the people in the downtown core cellphones were not working properly so I couldn't get a hold of Ben. So I knew he was still downtown when all the rioting broke out and I knew he was in the Fan Zone as well which is were it all had started. I was really worried about him. He called me about an hour after the game and explained that he was fine they were just eating and going to head home afterwards. Ben didn't realize the seriousness of the situation so he didn't realize how concerned I was. After I picked them up from downtown because the skytrain had been shut down they hadn't seen any of the tv coverage of the riot and fires so they didn't know what was really going on. The next day Ben phoned me from work and apologized because he didn't see how serious it was until he watched the news at work the next day.
I really can't believe that people decide to riot after the Canucks lost to the Bruins. After watching it for 3 hours I was still in total disbelief. The footage on the news stations was incredible. They were on the ground watching exactly what was going on. I really just don't understand why people had decided to set things on fire and destroy our beautiful Vancouver. Of course it wasn't Canucks fans who really started it but drunk kids who wanted to make the riot of 1994 look like a joke. But in it all people who weren't planning on being involved did become involved. Unfortunately it was "mob mentality" and now these people involved are starting to be recognized on social media sites and the cops are cracking down. I believe people didn't think they were going to get caught and now slowly people are getting caught and taken in to the police.
I am so thankful that I didn't hang around that evening and went home. You just never know what could of happened if you by an accident get wrapped up in what is going on and get stuck in a bad situation. God was definitely looking after me.
Photos of the Riot and the
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