10/7 Update: Video clip from Blenz surveillance footage added (from comments – OP has deleted the comment post). If anyone has ID or license plate of the motorcyclist, please contact the Richmond RCMP non emergency line!
October 3 at 6:54pm (Original Post) – At Garden City Blenz (at approx. 1pm) today, a senior man bumped into a (5’8-5’10, mid 20s?) East Asian male motorcyclist holding onto his helmet. The motorcyclist reacted with hostility, trailing behind and shouting at the old man asking, “Hey, the fuck is your problem? This helmet cost me $1000!”
The senior man apologized at once, voice hoarse and trembling, “I’m sorry, sir, I couldn’t see, I’m blind”. The motorcyclist got increasingly belligerent: “It’s not MY fault you’re blind! My helmet is worth a lot of fucking money!”
Pedestrians and other patrons of Blenz including myself repeated to him that the old man said he was blind, “it was an accident, please let it go”. He snarled remarks at us before continuing to yell at the old man and gesturing/grabbing onto his cane: “I don’t care if you’re blind! What is your fucking cane for then!”.
The motorcyclist proceeded to verbally attack anyone nearby who spoke up for the old man (who nearly lost his voice trying to explain himself), still bleating about how much money his helmet cost him.
I tried to reason with him: “Yes, your helmet cost you $1000 but he could not see. He. Did. Not. See. You — the man is BLIND. He simply could not see you, and he apologized.” The motorcyclist decides to go off on me, claiming it was none of my business.
It’s almost morbidly funny that what tipped this guy over the edge was my one line in direct response to him dismissing the man’s blindness:
“This is not how you treat another human being.”
Hey buddy, guess what?
Trying to get some work done at my local coffee shop — is my business.
Trying to do my work in some fucking peace and quiet — is my business.
Overhearing obscenities targeted against a defenseless neighbour trying to get some grocery shopping done on a fine Tuesday afternoon — who is now walking off shaken and stirred because of your misconduct and tantrum thrown in public — is my business.
Walking up to you after you yelled from the parking lot that you will “fucking kill” me (with a handful of witnesses who heard every word you said, and the surveillance cameras that captured your aggression) for not minding my own business — is my business.
Looking at you in the eye as you made your violent threats, where the safety of the coffee shop I have been a daily regular at for the last 10 years has now been taken away (not just for myself, but I imagine the high school kids or parents with kids around who would have done the same thing I did), and having to consciously remind myself that you and your revolting, deluded sense of justice (for your thousand-dollar helmet) does not represent the rest of society, and shouldn’t discourage me from doing it all over again the next time I witness such absurdity — is my business.
Attached is a photo of the motorcyclist and his ryd3 (left, face not shown – this pic is all I have). I post the photo to warn others who may encounter him in a fit of rage the next time.
/
Update: Last night I received a DM from another CLAIMED witness with “details” that question the credibility of the old man’s blindness. I understand where this may be coming from – how do we know for sure that he was actually blind?
Well, I’d like to ask if that really matters, at this point, when the perpetrator obviously induced a violent and abrupt loss of safety around the area.) As unbelievable as this may sound, I noticed the old man when he walked past my table on the patio, because literally less than 10 seconds before the altercation – another East Asian male in his late 20s (@ earlier comment asking why I felt a need to include the perp’s ethnicity – I’m not trying to generalize nor imply any commentary on stereotype discrimination) actually assisted him to step over the parking curb and onto the platform. Full on body contact support, all smiles. The old man wouldn’t stop thanking the younger guy, which admittedly took my attention away from marking student essays.
So yes, I do 110% believe he was visually impaired, but the matter is very much beyond that. It was very heartwarming to see one stranger help another as it happened. And then the helmet situation began, as my line of sight returned to grading papers (I was actually sitting at the table furthest away from the door area, where it all happened).
FYI: I honestly can’t remember if the motorcycle was red or orange – I had assumed it was a bright red motorcycle until someone pointed to me the red model vs. the orange. I still couldn’t tell you.
As already mentioned by another comment post, I didn’t mean to describe the perpetrator’s appearance to single him out and publicly shame him (but from reading the comments there seems to be some kind of consensus that he was in the wrong??)
In all seriousness, I just hope this message gets across to him somehow so he can read the things I so wanted to but failed to say in the heat of the moment.