We have a serious bread problem in HRM's grocery stores, and I'm not talking about price fixing. I'm talking about your stale-ass dunce loaves! There's no excuse for the stores that have their own built-in bakery department to be selling old-ass bread. Most of the time it's sitting on the shelves still frozen from the freezer you just took it out of…all the moisture gets in and ruins the texture. The pita bread breaks all apart when you try to make a pita pocket—it's so dry tasting, like sawdust. The bagels feel like hockey pucks and the French bread loaves feel just like a dense, soggy sponge. And don't even get me started on the cheaper stores that don't have an in-house bakery. What garbage! Don't people know good bread anymore? Also, the prices are ridiculous! I saw a loaf of cheese bread (white bread with some cheddar grated over the top) for $6.99! Seven bucks for a loaf of bread? Someone needs their head examined.
—Ain't Fit For The Birds!

The only liquor store near me is this little boutique version that is never open on Sundays and closes at 6pm. What a pain in the ass. Every time I wanna buy some drinks, it's closed! WHY can't it be open seven days a week until 10pm like the rest, and on Sundays? Having to walk all the way to the NSLC's store in the fucking dark isn't my idea of a fun night.

Secondly, why are weed, booze and cigs so damn expensive these days? You work your guts out all week just to afford to have fun for ONE day only. Fucking bullshit!
—Champagne Taste

I started writing this long rant debunking every single point that people make about why it’s bad to give money to homeless people, and I just got really fucking sad that I felt it was necessary.

The other day I gave a $10 bill to a guy who panhandles downtown near the ferry terminal. I don’t think he is trying to scam anyone. I’ve been targeted by scammers on the street before, and usually they walk around telling everyone a really long story about a family emergency that they need to buy a bus ticket out of town for. They do not typically sit down with a Tim’s cup and a cardboard sign hoping people will give them some change.

What’s the real reason why you are so uncomfortable with seeing this sort of poverty? Is it because deep down you know that it doesn’t need to exist in a country like Canada? Is it because you know that you’re one bad injury or serious illness away from being housing insecure yourself? The people who are profiting off of the sales of the Tim’s cups that so many homeless people use to collect change have been allowed (for some reason) to hoard more wealth than they and their children and their children’s children will ever be able to spend in their lifetimes. And here we are squabbling amongst ourselves, being shitty to people who do not have homes or enough food to eat. Shame on us.
—Eat the Rich

The price of some damn toiletries these days is insane! I went to the drug store in Dartmouth to find some mouthwash, pit stick and dry shampoo. I could not find a bottle of mouthwash for under eight bucks! We're talking about a bottle of fucking antiseptic shit you spit down the sink. Why??? So I had to go to the dollar store to buy a tiny bottle of the off brand kind for two bucks that literally turns your teeth blue! I bought some of that $4 Advanced Protection deodorant there too, but my pits started hummin' a few hours into my shift! Clinical protection, my ass! Shit don't work! Another waste of money. I'll have to keep sticking lemon wedges under my arms instead to burn out my sweat glands. Dry shampoo is another four bucks plus tax at the dollar store (what happened to a dollar? Everything is four dollars—it should be called the four dollar store) just to spray some carcinogenic powdery shit on my head. I NEED dry shampoo to fluff my hair up so it doesn't look so flat, like the cat been lickin' my damn head all night while I sleep. WTF is with the high prices of toiletries and why are they all such fucking garbage? This is bullshit, man. Can a bitch look cute and smell good and still afford to eat? Apparently not.
—Blue teeth, B.O. and flat hair

Here’s a question…why should Nova Scotians pay for a drug (PrEP) that wouldn’t be necessary if you fine people would learn to wear condoms and act responsibly? You have a choice at wellness. People don’t choose to get cancer…you are like cigarette smokers. You know the risks of your chosen lifestyle, and yet you continue to behave in an irresponsible manner. Furthermore this drug is not 100 percent effective. I disagree with this. Good day. —Post This

Fuck you. That's right. All of you light-fingered fucks who steal on a daily basis. People work hard and pay for their stuff and I don't know where you get the balls to just take what does not belong to you. All of you should be ashamed of yourselves. But probably not. Anyway, please stop. And fuck all of you if you won't. Life is hard for all of us and you don't have the right. Hope you all get caught and prosecuted. —IPAYWEPAY

Is it just me or are the prices in thrift stores getting ridonkulous? I looked at a faded cotton maxi dress—38 bucks! It's not even in season!  A fall jacket with fake fur trim—35 dollars.  A purse with a broken zipper, scratched hardware and dirty lining: 10 dollars, not even that great of a brand name.  I asked the snotty sales girl to drop the price but she said no! They'd rather put that stuff back on the shelves to sit there and collect dust than give you break on the price.  These "thrift" shops even have the nerve to operate under the guise of charity, when in actual fact, they are greedy corporations. Their products are all donated, making their costs zero and making their profit 100 percent. There is no need to gouge their customers who are low income people—the very people they claim to be helping.  I could buy this shit from Walmart brand new for much less. I am done! I will never shop at your stores again and I will sooner set my shit on fire than ever donate anything to your "thrift" stores. —Doing All My Future Thrifting Out Of Town

So ticked I can't listen to broadcast radio. A $400 phone with a FM chip that I'm locked out of. WTF. How many people own a radio anymore? My older phone allowed me to listen to broadcast radio. CBC is pumping their free radio app. Doesn't do me any good. It's not really free when you need a connection. Shit happens. Towers go down or you may not have internet in some areas. And what about those of us who can't afford it? CBC belongs to all Canadians. They should be leading the fight to get FM chips unlocked so all of our citizens can access it, not just those with money. Grrrr. —Listener left out

If you park at Mumford Road to catch the bus, you will notice the orange vest security guards protrolling the parking lot. Their job -to make sure that if you don't park in the wrong place or face fines.

Unfortunately there is not enough transit parking spots and security will offer you no solutions if they are filled up. Doesn't matter that there are hundreds of empty parking places whenever I park or retrieve my vehicle at any time of day. What a waste of money to have security patrol these parking lots each day to tell people to move. Is common sense truly dead?

As a result, I park so far away from the bus terminal now that I no longer bother to shop at Walmart on my way home (where I used to park). I hope your tenant appreciates the couple of hundred dollars I no longer spend on groceries there because of this ridiculous parking policy. —A Frustrated Commuter

This province has tons of potential. It's being wasted by the inept governments that keep getting put in charge. Nova Scotia is one of the poorest provinces in Canada, and it's not going to get any better with McNeil in power. We are taxed heavily despite having low wages, the youth find better paying jobs in a recession province like Alberta, and the seniors are being treated like SHIT. How in the world can we live in 2017 and not have enough doctors for people? What is this, the stone ages? Seriously. McNeil is AWFUL. However, the ones to blame are you. You probably bitch, you moan, you complain—yet did you vote in the last election? His approval rating is around 30 percent, the last election had an all-time low turnout—that says it all. It says it all. This province is going to keep going down the dumps.

It's sad.

Nova Scotia has so much potential. It has a lot you can exploit and create lots of revenue from. From natural resources, to a humongous Halifax Harbour on top of a big natural harbour in Shelburne, to its attractive geographical position, and many more things. Yet here's big oligarchy corporations pinching pennies—hiring foreign workers to save money and slave them to death because they don't want to spend extra money to hire CANADIAN WORKERS. Listen, I like diversity, but there's a difference between being diverse and penny pinching to make foreigners slave so Irving can take a swim in their billions. These temp agencies, which are common all over the world, make life hell for people. They steal your money, they leave you hanging, and some of the workers treat you like you're a pile of trash. So much for trying to make Nova Scotia friendly.

Also, what the hell is wrong with the transportation system? It costs you an arm and a leg to go to the South Shore, to the Eastern Shore, to the valley, to Cape Breton, and to the beautiful Northumberland Strait. We need an effective transportation system in this province. We have LOTS of train tracks sitting on the ground, and rotting away because nobody wants to use them for anything. Imagine a passenger train system from Halifax to Sydney, or Halifax to Yarmouth, or Halifax to Windsor, etc. I guarantee you that you can get lots of people on those trains. I know people in the Valley drive into work every day, and they take a lot of time to do so. If they took a train, that travelling will be cut in half, and they'd be saving lots of money.

Nova Scotia. It has potential. It can be great. But it isn’t. And it's shit. Thanks, politicians. —Disgruntled Person in NS