Went to the ER last weekend with a friend for an actual, non-self-inflicted, non-stupidity related medical emergency. Endured a seven hour wait for treatment due to the surfeit of drunken frat boys suffering from alcohol poisoning, drug-induced psychosis, injuries sustained in drunken brawls and other alcohol-fueled stupidity. And these represent the brain trust of the future! God, I long for the days when people who were too dumb to live just didn't. —Darwin

Seriously? As a music festival that prides itself on, amongst pretension and self-congratulation, showcasing interesting and important music, the first act you list on your flyer is a dubstep artist? Seriously? That's the main attraction? Well so much for integrity. But hey, what the fuck do I know... —Not as surprised as I should be

I just want to express my distaste at having been told today by a bus driver to “look more like you're waiting for the bus.” I've lived in Halifax for eight years and standing at the bus stop and looking at the approaching bus has always been enough. Should I also wave my arms wildly? Use a flashlight to signal in Morse code that I would like to take the bus? I sometimes will shake my head at an approaching bus to signal that I'm waiting for a different one (when I'm the only person at the stop), as a courtesy to the driver, but I would hope that standing at a bus STOP would be enough to signal to the driver that he/she should STOP for me. The sass was unappreciated, especially after waiting twenty minutes for a bus that never appeared. —Perpetually unpunctual

Dear unionized univesity faculty couple with a combined income over 200 thousand dollars a year who wrote the editorial in the Coast arguing NS should "de-grow" the economy and that NSians should "embrace" (economic) "backwardness," and live some kind of Grapes of Wrath style, hard-scrabble, hand-to-mouth, subsistence "bare bones" living by "making ends meet" "cobbling together ad-hoc jobs" "in harmony with the seasons" and that the model for Nova Scotia should be early 1900's agrarian peasants: your article reminds me of Jonathan Swift's "A modest proposal," except that he was satire and you guys are completely serious. Universities really have become bastions of EXTREME left wing and environmentalist reactionaries, haven't they? —Bizznatch

Seniority this, seniority that. I understand why employers want to hire people who have served the most time, or experience. But maybe they should focus on knowledge first. I lost a job opportunity to a fruit loop dingus. I blame it on myself, seniority, and the other dingus who hired her. I have no choice but to blow it off, but i'll keep in mind how difficult it will be for both of them, and how easy it would have been if she chose me. —Your loss, not mine

I tip my hat to runners, not everyone can bring themselves to dawn a vigulant fitness routine. The problem is that every morning on my way to work, I end up pushed off the sidewalk by mass groups of these runners. I have ended up with wet/muddy shoes all day, or in a few cases almost on the road. I have seen this situation continue with more then myself. I have seen strollers, and elderly shown the same lack of accommodation. Please start employing that rare concept of common curtsy, the sidewalk wasn't made for just you. —Muddied work shoes :(

What's the deal with your sandwich shop,s insanely annoying and illogical : no cash back on gift cards policy. Something your staff likes to repeat over and over, again, never with any explanation. When the balance dwindles down to a couple dollars or a handful of change,the exact same routine ensues, staff member crosses out the old balance, stands there with a calculator and calculates the new balance. No chance to tie up loose ends, I am now left with one more piece of paper to carry around in my purse, worry about, and keep track of. Here's the thing: gift cards are bought with cash. That means cash back isn't a loss for your store. I watched incredulously today as your cashier calculated the new balance and handed ithe certificate back to me.: new balance: 00.16 cents. With the slightly hostile and familiar refrain. No cash back. —F.l.k.

You continue to allow your ex to control your life. You have children together and yes, to an extent, you need contact. I have zero issues with that! This person constantly texts and calls you for frivolous things that can obviously wait (and some things that do not even concern you). They are trying to ruin our relationship but you don't see it. Never mind the fact that they moved on years ago and have had someone else in their life the entire time (before you split). You were hurt very deeply. Hey, we are all hurt at one time or another—some even more devastating than this. Get over it! I don't understand why you continue to cater to such behaviour. You are better than this. You deserve better. Your ex does not want you back at all; they just want to control you and any future chance at happiness you might find with someone else. I only hope you realize this before it is too late. I have been more than patient for over a year now but am at the end of my “hope.” Hope for you, not for me. For the life of me, I don't understand how a human being can be so mean and degrading to another, yet the victim continues to allow it to happen. So much for saving the world! It sure feels like the same-sized project! —Sleepless in see asshole?

Remember when the Atlantic Film Festival was a four days longer? Or when it would bring in amazing films from all over the world, and not just fill theatres with as many "Atlantic Shorts" as they could to try and boost attendance? I didn't think a film festival in Halifax could become more of a circle-jerk, but the AFF is somehow pulling it off. —Only four midnight showings?

Normally i have no sympathy for the cyclists in the city. but today it was over-ridden by another idiot driver on portland street. Police need to line that entire road and nail every one of the fucking idiots that drive that route and drive like maniacs. Red-light runners, not amber but a full on red. Left turners into on-coming traffic, and today, the point of this bitch, a woman pulled out and made a left hand turn into the path of an oncoming cyclist. she wasnt even looking over her left shoulder, she was looking right to make sure she was going to beat the oncoming traffic from her right. The worst of it all, there was not a single car coming after the cyclist and myself, or the car she was trying to beat and get ahead of. to the cyclist's credit, he avoided getting smoked like a pro, he must have dealt with this shit on more than one occasion. HALIFAX drivers need to fucking smarten up. —Icky