Erratum: In the previous post, I believe
that I incorrectly spelled Ro-
bert's last name. The correct
form is Dziekanski...
________________________

[Continuation of previous post]

If Robert Dziekanski had been a 19th
century man travelling from Poland
to Canada, he probably would've ar-
rived in Vancouver by rail. And if he
caused a scene he probably would've
been restrained by an officer and per-
haps some bystanders. The only elec-
tric current involved would have been
in the contracting muscles of those
who were holding him down. And
maybe decades later, Robert's grand-
children would marvel at the story of
Grandpa's meltdown when he first
came to Canada.

It would've been better if an ambulance
was sent to the Vancouver Airport. One
with someone from the local mental hos-
pital... someone familiar with emotional
distress in all of its manifestations.
Someone who's seen it all before, and
won't be spooked (or all that impressed)
by flying furniture. Or at the very
least, paramedics should do a rotation
or two in a mental institution. Emotion-
al distress is like art. You can learn to
understand it.

And you know it when you see it.
_______________________