**updated and rewrittenusually mennonites and more precisely the good people of southern manitoba are kind, generous, laid back and quite easy going. good people to be around.. today that was not my experience and well i am not even sure where to start... should i start by saying mennonites are selfish, mennonites don't make good lines, winkler is not good at throwing a big event or start by saying at least we got to see Stanley (kind of)...
dustin penner and his white limo cruised into winkler today bringing the stanley cup: let me preface my rant by saying this was so generous of him and i totally appreciate the fact that he was willing to share his 24 hours with all of us. well done dustin and thanks....
but... our experience is a bad one and having been to big events before in bigger cities i must say winkler needs some help. those of us who stood in line for a few hours ahead of time were pushed aside as greedy people some of who have probably never even heard of hockey pushed there way passed us, over and under lame rope that was meant to hold the masses. there we were in what was probably +50degree heat waiting and waiting... the ceremony was long and too many people talked for too long.. it was nice he got plaques and keys to the city and even his high school jersey retired - i'm happy for him. then the chaos ensued and those ropes meant nothing. there were some parents trying to tell there poor kids who had waited hours that it was wrong to go under the ropes and cut in (unlike the other half of the parents who were pushing there kids over other kids just to get closer). and it just kept getting hotter. dustin left (poor guy was so hot in his huge jersey) and the picture taking kept going although it seemed we kept getting further and futher from the front of the line we had waited so patiently in.. needless to say keeping two one year olds who are up from naps and hotter than hell happy was not working and we sadly gave in after waiting so long and went home. we did get these two shots of the boys "with the cup"... thanks stanley for the memories as for the people in our small town who pushed there way past everyone else - shame on you. and for the organizers of the event - yea better luck next time. geez
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9 comments:
It must be the Russian blood in them:)
Hey Heather...I know yesterday was some what crazy. There was alot of cutting in line and jumping the ropes, but what I also saw was that half the people there were not even from Winkler. It bothers me that you would call all mennonites bad apples. As in any culture there are the good, the bad and the ugly. People seem to loose all sense of courtesy and self control when in a situation like this. Not that this makes it okay, but it can happen anywhere.
Denyse
like i said i was making blanket statments on my own blog and in the heat of the moment... i also did say that usually mennonites and the people of southern manitoba are usually good people... of course there are good, bad and ugly in each culture.. ours (notice i said ours because i am just as mennonite as the next...) ours not excluded.. sorry you were offended.. my blog is not meant to offend only to rant my own personal views on my own personal situations...you were quite ahead of us once inside.. how long were you standing in line outside???
I understand how irriated you must have been. I saw you behind us at one point and felt bad for you wondering how long your little guys would last. It was so hot in there. I know I was hot and a little crusty, never mind all the children who had to wait in line. We were there at 11:30ish. (We had kids saving a spot in line at 10:00am) When we got there the line in front of us was about 30 people max. By the time we got into the building that number tripled. Crazy. I was frustrated too with all the cutting but just wanted comment and say that it wasn't just the menno's.
Denyse
thanks denyse.. yea when we left it looked like the boys had just had a bath.. they were so hot but did good in spite of it all... thanks for the comment.. hope you got some good shots. i know it must have been such a big deal for the kids.. sorry if i offended you i really didn't mean too..
No problem Heather....talk to you again. Denyse
Totally agree with you Heather! It was chaos and not well organized. I didn't even want his autograph, I just wanted to be there and get a picture when he hoisted the cup.They should have done the speeches and crap some other time and let him speak and the fans see him and get pictures. It's too bad he got sick and had to leave. I know there is certain etiquette with the cup and I think he had to dress that way.
Yep - saturday left a bit of a sour taste in our mouth as well. I think that the organizers just had no idea what to expect. They couldn't have figured on a 30+ day, or that over 2000 people would be there. However, if the cut ever returns to Winkler, I PRAY they learn from this and do a few things differently. We also waited for a LONG time...only to leave the line (because of all the cutting, drives me CRAZY), and take pics from the top bleachers and behind the cup. Definitely understand your frustration :)
i think the picture with the cup and the kids is hilarious - really...
hot + kids + waiting = not a good time...
not to mention crowds, hunger, and line cutters - ooooh LINE CUTTERS -read this and hear...the last shall be first!
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