Side story: Conversations

A Conversation with a BC Parks Employee
Backstory: I had just ridden up 5 km of steep, narrow roads to camp in Sasquatch Provincial Park, only to discover it was full. I approach a BC Parks Employee about setting up my tent in a day use picnic area.
Me: "Hello, I just came down from the park and it seems like all the spots are full could I-"

Her: "Oh, I'm sure some spots are going to open up"

"Uhhhh, this bike is kind of heavy, I don't want to go all the way back up there on a maybe. It's getting kind of late, and I don't want to bike back to the highway to start looking for other spots. Would it be okay to put my tent up for the night over at the end of the picnic area?"

"This is a Provincial Park. It's here to protect the environment, we can't have you camping wherever you want."

"Yeah, I'm actually a conservation biologist in the Yukon, I totally get that but this is literally a planted lawn. What are you protecting?"

"Well if you camp here, then we need to reseed the grass."

"I'm only setting up my tent for one night? There's a family of 7 having a picnic and playing soccer over there that you don't seem to care about."

"Well if I let you camp here then everyone will think its okay and then this whole area will be a wasteland."

"But it's a picnic area. It probably has people running on the grass every day all summer. It obviously isn't doing much harm."

"... okay, but this is a Provincial Park. It's here to protect the environment".

It was at this point I realized I couldn't win this argument and biked away. I realize that the Parks do serve a conservation purpose but this experience and several others, along with the exorbitant fees charged for basic tent camping (40$ a night in some parks!!!) have led me to believe that the Provincial Parks closer to Vancouver are mostly just there to milk money from tourists and urbanites. I have had some better experiences with Parks staff in more remote, out of the way parks.

A Conversation on the Roadside with Tourettes Woman
Backstory: Biking along the highway with little traffic when I see a woman walking towards me in the opposite lane. As she approaches I can hear her quite loudly ranting.

As I get close to her:
"Shit, you look like a killer fucking clown!"

Me: "uhhh good morning"

Her, in a normal voice: "Good morning!"
Her, very loudly: "Cop fucker!"