Posts tagged with train.
Bring back the gravy train, Rob Ford
The Brute Force Committee has struck again and their latest prank proved once more that engineering students are more than widget-makers-in-training.
The infamous secretive group of University of Toronto engineering students arrived in front of Toronto's City Hall Sunday night and brought back the gravy train - a hollow wooden train set designed to be filled with non-perishable food items.
The prank had all the hallmarks of the modern engineering prank - philanthropy, ingenuity, and intelligent satire.
It brilliantly poked fun at newly elected Toronto Mayor Rob Ford who campaigned on a message of ending the "gravy train" at Toronto's landmark City Hall.
The train consisted of two wooden crates that resembled boxcars with food donations from students in one and a sign on the other asking for donations from the public. At one point, at the front of the "train" was a caricature of Mayor Rob Ford holding a stop sign.
Sadly, Rob Ford's campaign to get rid of the "gravy train" hasn't yet eliminated bureaucratic red-tape. The students were required to dismantle the train when a city security officer called the police threatening to arrest them for trespassing on public property.
He also informed the students they would require permits, including a building permit, for their "train."
What followed was the arrival of numerous police officers and the hasty end of what could have been a nice Christmas story.
The students were forced to move their "gravy train" to the University of Toronto campus.
It's a sad commentary on our society that neither the security officer or police force exercised sound judgement to allow the students to collect food donations.
It's even sadder that a police sergeant took the time to enforce petty regulations that clearly weren't drafted with the goal of stopping this "gravy train."
As a society, we've declared war on fun. Try to organize any event at a university today and you encounter a pile of bureaucratic paperwork that makes you wonder how the rain forests have survived this long.
We no longer allow grease poles, the hoisting of car shells onto rooftops, initiation rites, or making fun of "artsies."
Many of these changes are for the better, but in the process we've lost our sense of fun.
We've asked our students to act nobly, and they've done so.
Donating to food banks in the form of a prank is a great trend, which engineering schools across the country have been adopting. The University of British Columbia's students famously like to build their logo using cans of non-perishable food on the lawn of a local food bank.
To engineering students everywhere, keep up the good work. To the Brute Force Committee, thanks for the smile. To Rob Ford, bring back this gravy train before Christmas.
I'll be visiting the "gravy train" to make a donation next Monday. If you're in Toronto, you can donate by visiting King's College Circle at the University of Toronto.
Tagged with
gravy,
food,
train,
engineers,
bank,
charity
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JOEY COLEMAN