http://abbotsfordtimes.com/031102/opinion/031102op2.html

IN SEARCH OF YOUR COMPASSION

I'm a relative newcomer to Abbotsford and B.C. and still find many things
surprising, interesting and even shocking on occasion.

Mountains, White Spot, a lack of snow . . . all are things that have been a
surprise to me.

But, along with the good has also come some bad, like discovering that a
B.C. Liberal can be just as heartless as an Ontario Tory.

So I took a particular interest when we started digging into some of the
social ills facing Abbotsford's downtown area.

I'm not quite naive enough to not have realized that crimes based mostly on
drug addiction existed in the world, but I was still a little surprised to
see just how significant the problem has become in this community.

Although it's somewhat embarrassing, when reporter Kevin Gillies started
filing stories where he had easily scared up a couple of drug-addicted
hookers to tell their story, I was a little skeptical.

After all, I had driven through the core on several occasions and had never
witnessed such acts.

After the second installment in the series, I decided I needed to see for
myself. Armed with the information in those articles, I headed down to
Pauline Street area in the middle of the afternoon one Saturday and parked
my car.

Sure enough, before me stood two women who were clearly working the corner.

In my small-town hick way, I must admit I was transfixed by the scene as I
watched one woman continually cast a wary glance at my car.

I tried to look busy. I tried my hardest to not look like a potential
customer. In the end, I think I just looked strange because she eventually
left the area, shooting me suspicious looks over her shoulder.

The other woman, however, held her ground until a middle-aged man in a
mini-van pulled up to the curb and she happily hopped in.

While I waited to see how long it would take for her to return, I started
to notice the same cars constantly circling the block.

I also noticed the same police cruiser drive by three times during the half
hour or so I was sitting there.

But then it started to get dark, I started to get antsy and eventually I
went home to the safety of my security-controlled apartment building.

In my short six months here, I have experienced first hand how this
community can get its collective hackles up about an issue, especially
those concerning matters of morality.

I will now watch with interest to see if the plight of drug addicts, petty
thieves and child hookers stirs any emotion.