One Week

What is a week?  It's a length of time that can be broken down in a number of different ways:

7 Days
168 Hours
10.080 Minutes
604,800 Seconds

The last time I wrote about the measure of a week (February 2010), I was questioning what you would do if you knew you only had one left.  I suppose, considering what happened a week ago, I could pose the question, what if that riot was the last event that took place in Vancouver before it disappeared a la Pompeii?

It's been a week since Vancouver came undone at the conclusion of the Stanley Cup Finals and there has been no shortage of coverage outlining the reasons for the destruction, heroism, backlash, and sense of community that came from one night.

Rioters have come forward, police have laid charges, and the debates over public opinion, mob mentality, possible punishments, and the use of social media to aid the investigation, have raged on local, national, and international levels.  We are a city, united by our desire to see things set right, but divided in our approach to take to get there.  While there is strong support for the public to hold riot participants accountable, it is a fine line to walk. 

I believe that the authorities should use footage and photos taken by witnesses as a tool in their investigative process but I am against those same photos and videos being used to publicly attack not only the individual involved, but their families, friends, and any organization they are associated with.  I think those who have turned themselves in, should have done so before their faces were plastered all over the Internet but that they do deserve some margin of credit for coming forth and issuing public apologies (even though some of them should have quit while they were ahead - actually, the first apology was re-written after the public found it to be insincere and almost argumentative as she outlined all the possible reasons mob mentality is a valid excuse). 

One thing is for sure - most of us are committed to never letting this happen again and trying to show the world what Vancouver is really about.  I've got faith that the silver lining of this whole mess is that Vancouver is coming back better than ever.