International Association Of Independent Journalists Inc.

[IAIJ]

The invisible, the rushed and the oblivious.



By Frank Nyitray (Toronto, Canada)



Good day readers. As a street action photographer who can be seen about town, shooting a wide range of events, I have had the opportunity to shot fires, police investigations, the G20, have shot some of the most high profile people in Canada and on this planet and am always thankful when I get that rare access to shoot some events.

Many will know that this past week, several major raids took place in and around Toronto that took several guns off the street, took several very dangerous gang members off the street, took a significant quantity of drugs off the street. I am not going to put up all the links here to these raids, for they are well publicized in just about every media outlet in and around Toronto. Thanks to our cops and the very high level of risk that these raids entail, our cops made the city a little bit safer, even if it is for short period of time. Sometimes, these small victories for the citizens to live in a safe environment are worth the risk and our cops are up for that.

However, there is another side of police work that most of us never see, and quite frankly, don’t want to see. We live our lives in a city where we go about our business and too often, care little to none at all about the person next to us. We will pass the same people day after day, never knowing who they are or what their story is, we simply don’t care. Today was, sadly proof of this, once again.

The Toronto Eaton Center is the hub of the city, tens of thousands of people going through it daily. Tens of thousands of the zombified public outside. Our cops get to patrol this city and see it all. They deal with just about everything we throw at them. We expect them to act professional at all times, do what they are trained to do day in and day out. Many will protest them at the drop of a hat for anything they can invent. Some will make such stupid accusations against the cops that if it was not so blatantly obvious that the story is fabricated, well, I still shake my head at some of the stories I hear, from some of the people I have come into contact with over the years. (I will leave that for another story at some point in the future) Today, as those tens of thousands of shoppers did what they always do, as the tens of thousands of people went about their lives , sans any care about what goes on around them, the ugly parts that many don’t want to know exists, showed up .

Behind the Eaton Center is a small park along with a historic church, a quiet little green space amidst an oceans of concrete and glass. This space is used by most of the people who live and work in the area. Today, as events unfolded, hardly a person took notice. The shopping bags where slung onto each arm, cell phones were glues to people ears, several people drank their usual cups of grossly over priced designer coffee. People ran about their lives as if everyone was just fine, blinders on full.



Yes, the image is exactly what you think it is. So, while you were out laughing, shopping, having a great time, someone lost a loved one, a family member, a friend. No one really paid much attention, only the cops. They get to go and inform the next of kin of what took place today. They will investigate as to how and why this happened. so, while you professional protesters will start to plan your next useless, pointless protest where you yell your vile crap like ” fuck the police ” and the usual drivel, maybe, in what is left of your little brain, you will have enough brain capacity left to know they find a next of kin, to treat this person with dignity, to investigate what and why this happened.

So to those whose just read this and I so rudely put reality in your face, well, too bad. Maybe next time you’ll slow down a little and quit being some mindless zombie who cares for yourself only. Naw, who am I kidding, nothing see here, move along ……………..