Edmonton's little BIG problem of "schooling"

The state of the overcrowded SW schools has come to an intolerable head and the worst part is that it was all completely predictable. We got into this mess together for a variety of reasons so it’s going to take us working together in a variety of ways to get us out.

The problem is compounded by a misinformed public. The average citizen just doesn’t see the big picture and no one is standing up to educate them. Now, I’m not sure if our Public School boards merely feel it’s not their job to educate Adult Citizens or if they are attempting to remain apolitically neutral. In my mind neither is OK. A School Board is by nature both an agent of Public Education and of Social Change. All this confusion, frustration, funding myth, and misleading data swirl around and result in nothing more than one school’s parents pitted against another school’s parents, pointing fingers at each other and at the board. Instead we really should be working together to demand equal educational opportunities for all our children and getting to the true roots of the issue.

It must be stated clearly that the City knowingly allowed massive tracts of new development without considering or informing the public of the tremendous lag in public infrastructure which would follow. The lack of schools, developed park spaces, play grounds, community buildings and rinks are felt deeply by the residents of those communities. By allowing the developers and builders to claw ever outward we have created 2 massive problems: the “ghettoization” of huge areas of our city’s core, and that the school “spaces” are not where the children are.

The developers, builders, and realtors who sold homes in these huge new communities were complicit in a great lie. I, personally, don’t know a single person who bought in a recently developed area who was not told that a nearby vacant field was a surplus school site. This led them to believe that a school would be built there. http://www.edmonton.ca/city_government/urban_planning_and_design/surplus-school-sites.aspx

No explanation is ever provided as to the lengthy and unlikely list of factors which would need to be met before a school would be built. There is certainly no mention that the Province builds the schools, not the boards, and that the Province counts every available student “space” in a city before it determines a new school is warranted. Edmonton’s schools are simply not full. Just ask the residents of Haddow area what is becoming of their surplus school site. Soon it will be developed into housing and no school will ever be built there.

The citizens of Edmonton must take a hard look at themselves as well. We chose to believe the lie. We have fought mixed density communities, even though they are proven best for the social structure of cities. We have fallen for the shiny and the new instead of rationally and responsibly restoring the once vibrant communities which many of us grew up in. We have continuously voted in governments (civic, provincial, and federal) who refuse to govern the people with vision, and instead ride the wave of public opinion and fail at every turn to advance or preserve the public good. Shame on us.

We are in this mess for all these reasons and many others, and moving forward it is important that we know them, but it is most important that we act now to fix what’s wrong. The solutions will require decisive action on the part of the boards and even then will only be a stop gap. From this point forward the Boards must work with city and provincial planners to ensure this does not keep happening.

Here’s what I am asking of the Edmonton Public School Board.

·         Please take another look at the numbers you are asking many overcrowded schools to operate at. Children are NOT best served by punitively large class sizes nor by placing classes in non-traditional spaces like stages or libraries. Every child deserves a classroom. The province must not be allowed to calculate a school’s capacity using square footage as part of the formula; a gym is NOT a classroom.

·         Please acknowledge that asking small children to take an over 30 minute bus ride each way is too much. Many children are spending much more than an hour each day on the bus. Small children deserve to attend a community school. I was relieved to see the board decided to move the grade 8 and 9 students from Ester Starkman and Johnny Bright but also very sad. It is a lesser-of-evils reaction to a problem that is not going to go away and it merely reflects the unfortunate reality we are in. It causes almost as many problems as it solves; for instance where will EPSB put Avalon’s French immersion students as that program grows over the next few years?

·         Please develop relationships with U of A, and Grant McEwan Childcare graduates to start a few top notch out of school care programs in undersubscribed inner city schools and them promote these schools to commuters. Parents who work downtown and in other areas of the city could choose these schools as a way to access quality childcare and spend more time with their kids by sharing the morning and evening commute with them. There is a strong argument for children attending school closer to where their parents work as it makes it easier for their working parents to attend field trips or special events. Plan to bring life back to dying inner city schools.

·         Please, PLEASE, develop a clear position on handling future development. Schools cannot be continuously asked to accommodate never ending growth. If the developers were required to inform buyers that there are no area schools able to receive their children and therefore buying in that area would also be agreeing to seek out and attend schools far outside of the community, well, they wouldn’t sell too many houses would they? They will not be allowed to suggest any new school will be built and will have to communicate clearly to perspective buyers that since Edmonton schools are at 78% attendance (or whatever it is at that time) that a new school is, in fact, unlikely in the near future.

·         Please (and I know this seems counter intuitive) protect much relied upon and valuable out of school care and preschool programs housed within your schools. There is no reason each school should not have one ‘break even priced’ space rented out to a much needed not for profit community service. EPSB must lobby strongly to have these spaces removed from the Province’s vacant student “space” formula. No principal should have to face a kick-out-your-much-needed-afterschool-daycare or have its “spaces” counted against you dilemma. (And for the record my children don’t attend an in school care centre, nor is the Playschool I work at housed in a school. I simply can’t deny how important these places are for children and families. They are vital to a strong school community.)

·         Please. Please, PLEASE act. The board must act now and with the best outcomes for children in mind.

I am not suggesting any solutions will be easy, in fact I know they will be hard ... but I believe very, very worth the trouble.

40 things I know by 40.

I am soon to turn 40, which will mark the end of my 40^th year on this Earth. I have learned so much, and yet I know it’s only a drop in the bucket of what there is to know, and what is known is only a drop in the bucket of what I believe mankind will eventually know ……………… it’s overwhelming really. And exciting.

I try to see the world with an open heart and mind, and try to view myself as a ‘work in progress’. But there are a few things I have definitely figured out about myself and the world. I know everyone and their dog does one of these when they turn 40 but this one is mine, and I am sharing because it’s what I do, and because maybe some of these things are the same for you and might make you think, or laugh, or cry, or shake your head. I am finding myself very nervous about putting these personal “self searchings” into the world but I am trying to love life as an open book, it seems easier that way. Plus I’m trying to encourage self-reflection in others. I think it’s healthy, and important, and very missing in our fast, hedonistic, and materialistic society. We need to visit the places inside that define us because it makes our actions easier to sync up with them. Anyhoo, here are 40 of mine – one for each year!

1. Farts are funny. Figured that out early and despite my best effort to outgrow or outclass that fact, it’s still a fact. Farts. Funny. Just are.

2. Wear a helmet. Brains are important.

3. Almost everything will bite you if you poke it a lot.

4. I have forgotten the funniest joke that I ever heard. The punch line is “Probably he is going to shit on the piano” …… in a really uber French Canadian accent. But I can’t remember the joke. When Mark and I find something funny that we probably shouldn’t, we just look at each other and say “probablee ‘e iz goeeng to shit on da Pee-AN-No” ……….. and that is why we probably should not have reproduced.

5. I am still wondering when I will feel like a grown up. Probably never. It’s like I’m locked in a larval stage. I’m half baked, raw in the middle, …… not done.

OK, that’s not something I know but it is a me-ism and that’s the same thing.

6. One of the greatest things ever written is “With Mirth and laughter let old wrinkles come.” Shakespeare wrote that, ……… or at least ripped it off and wrote it down in a play with his name on it. Doesn’t matter. It’s brilliant because it evokes beautiful imagery, and is also a challenge to embrace aging and live life in a way that will leave you smiling. Eight words which are meaningful enough on so many levels that they fire synapses in every corner of your brain AND warm your heart. Amazing.

7. I have a long list of character flaws. I am prone to resentment, I let fear hold me back, I wrestle between my need to go out in the world and help and my need to stay in pajamas all day (and often pajamas wins), I dwell on bad experiences, I can be petty, I can be quick to write people off as shallow, I can’t handle rude people, I can’t handle ‘me first’ people, I am too outspoken but I have trouble voicing my thoughts out loud which is why I write but that often seems cowardly, I am short tempered, I am easily overwhelmed, and so much more. I’d like to say that learning to conquer these flaws will be my life’s work, but it’s probably just NOT strangling speeders when I catch up to them at the same FRICKIN’ RED LIGHT!!!!!!!!!!!!! That’s the character flaw that’s most likely to land me in prison so probably I’ll really make an effort on that one. Seriously though, speeding is a very selfish act and one that endangers others. It’s one of the few societal rules that truly costs nothing, makes sense, and saves people. So slow the heck down or I may need to maim you.

8. Socrates said “Living well, and beautifully, and justly, are all one thing.” Well, Google tells me he said something like “Ζώντας καλά και όμορφα και δίκαια είναι όλα ένα πράγμα.” But whatever. I have the English version hanging on the inside of my front door to remind me. Regardless of how he said it I have taken this phrase to heart. It is a call to mindful living. I know the world does not owe me anything, but that I (by the very virtue of being alive in it) owe something to it. I think Socrates’ words sum that up. Life is to be enjoyed, to create and appreciate beauty, and for that beauty and enjoyment to not come at the expense of others. Don’t take advantage, give what you can, be a friend, be engaged and present in your own life and world, love life, and keep it simple; true compassionate living. His words are a joyful declaration about one’s place in the world which are so different from the ‘know your place’ drivel we usually hear. I love that.

9. My Grandmothers could have listed 40 things to do with old pantyhose (stockings) without batting an eye and before their first cuppa in the morning. I think the saddest thing about our incredibly wasteful ‘a piece of crap for every need, and a need for every piece of crap’ society is the loss of ingenuity. We need that back. We need inventive problem solving and the answers that can’t be found on a store shelf. I believe what has driven human evolution is cleverly reasoning through challenges on a daily basis. Not by putting a man on the moon (though that was amazing) or by inventing the Polio vaccine (though that was world changing) but through everyday people constantly involving themselves with ideas. It took us from ape hood; and now we sit in apathetic lumps watching “Real Housewives” and googling cat jokes. I hope everyone can reawaken their minds to IDEAS – technical, social, philosophical, it doesn’t matter. My wish is for the 1^st world to reawaken. The renaissance is not dead, just on hiatus ….. and now that people of every gender and colour are invited to the party, OH what we could do!

10. I think the meaning of life is waking up every day believing that I have the potential to grow, learn, evolve, do a good deed, or better myself in some way. I might not actually accomplish that. I might wake up and yell at the kids, and give some speeder the finger before it’s even 9 in the morning but at least there’s potential; and that’s magic.

11. Spell correct is a sanctimonious bully which I could not live without. Pfffft. (And it just told me Pffft is spelled wrong but it SO ISN’T! Pffft.)

12. I am my own worst enemy; my harshest critic. I can wage such war on myself. Whenever I find myself in a room full of really cool, or smart, or influential people I still move about wondering what the hell I’m doing there, and how I’m so out of my element, and that I don’t belong. Pffft. Moving on, into my 41^st year, I want to make peace with myself. Helen Keller famously wrote “I long to accomplish a great and noble task, but it is my chief duty to accomplish small tasks as if they were great and noble.” I think that may be the secret, as these words ring prophetically true to me.

13. I have the best parents in the world. My goal is to be as caring, tireless, and empathetic as they are. Don’t get me wrong, my screwed-up-ness is totally their fault but they made my childhood fun and always had room for everyone in their life and home and taught me that kindness is messy and totally worth it.

14. When I was a child, I was an easy target. I’ve never been pretty or thin or dressed fashionably or run with the “in crowd”. And that wouldn’t have bothered me but kid’s pointing it out all the time did. It really hurt. Sometimes all that was left was to separate myself from the even less cool kids. I didn’t stand up for them because I was just grateful when it wasn’t me. Being silent and distant made me part of the problem, part of the meanness. It’s really important to know which side you’re standing on, and I DID know. I still swim in guilt over that. I cannot, ever again, be the kid who wouldn’t stand up for another. It’s part of me now and it’s the only way I know to move forward.

Kid’s today are so much deeper than we were; their oceans so much wider – we must be careful what we fill that ocean with. Children today seem much more capable of compassion and strength and bravery then when I was young. The way children can support each other in the face of a bully astounds me. Yet so too are the bullies of today more fierce, more deliberate, more cruel and sometimes kids still feel so alone. I hope I can make my children strong enough to never leave a friend alone or a class mate in despair, and most of all I hope they will have the strength never stand on the wrong side.

15. Wine and chocolate are delicious. Liver is not delicious.

16. If I had one wish from a genie I would probably just wish that humans could let the hard questions have hard answers and lighten up over the small questions with simple answers. We seem to have it all backwards. Life is complicated and challenging and fraught with misstep and misfortune and the only way through it is to support one another. We agonize over the easy questions “should we order the red or blue car?” “what house should we buy or school should we choose?” In the end, whatever school or house you choose, you must get on with the business of being in it happily and as for the car – who cares? The hard questions of life: who to love, whether to have children, whether to marry or divorce, get an abortion, what to devote your life to, allowing yourself pleasure at times yet balancing it with joyful giving of service; all these things are big and hard. Why are we so quick to judge someone else’s hard choices? There is a lack of compassion there that is stunning to me …… and so very sad. Living life requires more empathy than that to be good at it. Implying that there is an easy solution to someone who is dealing with a life changing dilemma can be very, very cruel. In fact the word Dilemma means “a forced choice between two (or more) courses of action which are equally disfavored or favored” and most languages have a word or phrase for it. I suppose everyone has lines they will not cross for themselves. They should not draw those lines for others except when we can as a society agree on one and make it law, and even then we must commit to changing the law if it can be proven unjust. I know I go back and forth on the issue of Capital punishment as there are many humans who I believe can never be made good, but I could not be the one to ‘administer the needle’ so how can I expect someone else to? But I could probably do it for someone I loved very, very much and who had clearly expressed that they were done with this life and were truly ready to leave it. I think I could probably hold their hand and tell them I loved them and help them go ….. maybe. A dilemma, to be sure, and one that says so much about how personal our views on quality of life and about living with our choices are, don’t you think? I think if you are living with an open heart and mind then the “answers” should never be decided before the question is asked, all you can hope is that if life ever asks you the hard questions, you will find the hard answers that are right for you and be supported by the people in your life.

17. I think I am missing a consumer bone or something. Don’t get me wrong, I am as terrible with money as the next person, but ‘name brand’ clothes or status cars hold nothing for me. I just don’t get the attraction. If I can get a perfectly good pair of pants for $44 then spending $244 seems just silly (maybe not silly IF you could say that $244 pants were made in nonexploitive workplaces – but that’s rarely the case)……..  and someone spending $444 for a pair of pants makes me think that social services should take away those people’s children because that’s just really poor life skills.

It’s not just the money thing either; it’s the whole concept of “trends” that rings false and shallow to me. A thing of beauty to you may be very expensive or worth nothing at all, but it should make something sing inside of you; you should love it on a personal, lasting level and not just until the next month’s magazine spread.

I could go on and on about this one but suffice to say I don’t typically try to fill the holes in my heart with things, and truly believe I am happier for it.

18. Love is slow and warm. It’s an easy friendship with fair compromises. It’s your real laugh and your snottiest heaving sobs. I am so lucky to have Mark to snot on and laugh with.

19. I was “beautiful” once, in the way that all young insecure girls who believe they are hideous, are beautiful. And those boys who hurt me weren’t fit to lick my boot heels. But they taught me valuable lessons. They taught me that youthful ragged wounds do heal, and the scars look very small on a grown up soul. They taught me that there is a light inside all of us and if you harden your heart around it you will snuff it out and become empty; darkened. But if you persist, keep your heart open and (yes) vulnerable, and try to keep a sight line on who you want to BE, and if you are very, very, lucky and loved, it will shine on.

20. I am not special. Neither are you. But I AM important. So are you. I, we, must learn to walk the Earth knowing both those statements are true for everyone. Mr Rogers summed it up so much more beautifully though. He said “Our world hangs like a magnificent jewel in the vastness of space. Every one of us is a part of that jewel. A facet of that jewel. And in the perspective of infinity, our differences are infinitesimal.”

21. I still can’t say “Vagina” in public without feeling embarrassed. I know we’re all supposed to use the correct words, and I totally agree, but my stomach still jumps up into my throat when I say “Vagina”.

22. I blush. Does anyone blush anymore??? Good grief. I’m a blusher.

23. You can’t make the stock market make sense for me. Don’t even try. They say a company that makes a good product, pays its workers a decent living wage, is conscious of safety and environmental impact, and makes a bit of a “profit” at the end of the day, but doesn’t “grow” is bad. But a company, who makes shit, pays shit, spills shit, dumps shit, and stands for shit, is good because it makes ever increasing amounts of money. This happens when some greedy opportunist tells a bunch of other greedy opportunists to buy the stock. Then when all the greedy opportunists add up their stocks they add up to WAY more than the ‘shit factory’ could EVER be sold for in a million years but they don’t even question it because some other greedy expert opportunist says “well, someone like you couldn’t possibly understand the complexities of the market …… blah blah blah.” …………… Pffft.

24. There is nothing unnatural about being a grownup who is attracted or not to other grownups. Being straight, gay, asexual, bisexual, whatever, is natural. I know this. People need to stop hurting each other over this issue. End of story. If you’re not gay, then don’t be gay but don’t tell someone else that they are less than you because they are. It’s unbelievably hurtful, and unbelievably stupid. Stop. Uncle. Time Out.

25. We need to get serious about protecting the Earth from ourselves. Whether you argue it from the stand point of water, or resource management, or sustainability, or ethics we must slow down and consider what we are doing.

26. Whoever said that “when a woman has her first child, 2 people are born, the mother and the child” could not have been more right.

27. Someone should have told me that after you have 2 babies you will often pee your pants for no reason. Well, there’s a reason like sneezing or laughing or running but no reasonable reason. Pffft.

28. I don’t want to be ‘that Mom’ at the pool who has pubic hair escaping out of the sides of her suit and long armpit hair. I get the natural thing, but I don’t want to BE ‘that lady’. So I will “maintain” the body hair, you know for the kid’s sakes………….. at least until I’m 75, then screw it, I’m going to grow it like it’s my job.

29. When I have a bad day with the boys. I yell, they fight, no one eats their dinner, and someone pees on the toilet seat, …… you know, that day. I tuck them in and kiss them, but I don’t mean it. And then, as if compelled, I think of my parent’s neighbours whose only 2 children died of cystic fibrosis within a few years of each other. And then I think how they would probably move heaven and Earth just to have my worst day with my boys with their daughters ……and I go upstairs and kiss them and kiss them and kiss them. I love them so much and am so very lucky.

30. I have personally never felt more beautiful, powerful, or feminine than when I was breast feeding my babies. I whipped my boobs out everywhere and anywhere my babies needed me to. The hang up people have in our society over BOOBS and BABES has got to stop. Get over it people.

31. Laugh lines are beautiful. There is nothing more beautiful than someone who smiles with their whole face.

32. I am an atheist. If god herself came down and said “In your face chickie! I’m real!” I would be shocked, and then I would say “but I wouldn’t have lived my life any differently if I had known.” I try to live everyday gratefully. If I get up each morning and can’t make the world a little better, at least I can try to NOT make it worse. I do that for myself. I would hope that would be enough. I simply don’t need a deity to be compelled to try to do the right thing, and I hope you don’t either. If it helps you, then good, have at ‘er but if it’s fear of hell that motivates you then I just don’t get it. I can’t wrap my head around that. For most of the people I know, all that really separates us is a belief in the afterlife; they believe their soul will cross over into one and I believe when I die the energy which makes my soul mine will simply dissipate into nothingness and into everythingness. That’s all. Otherwise we all just try to live our lives. Fred Rogers (Mr. Rogers) is perhaps my favourite modern philosopher and writer, and it is most certainly a huge personal inspiration, and he was a Minister, and he was a beautiful human being. The fact that he believed and I didn’t would not have stopped us from finding much common ground on how to treat people here is this world and how to live here in this world. All I can wish is for people to find a faith or ethical belief system that comforts, inspires, and celebrates what rings true for them and then within that find room for flexibility, acceptance, and intelligence. Many of the believers and non-believers I know have found that. But I can’t abide by rejection and exclusion of others, or denial of powerful science and beautiful difference. And the thing is, I don’t want to be comforted by the fact that if I unquestioningly follow a set of rules I’ll end up in an afterlife with only the people who are just like me. I just never liked the idea of leaving good people with good hearts behind. For me faith is my belief that mankind is moving towards a “Heaven-right-here-on-Earth” altogether. And that Heaven is one where we can BE together in peace and acceptance with our differences intact right here on Earth. For me, faith is believing (despite knowing I’ll never see it) that mankind will get there one day.

33. I don’t care how rich you are, or well spoken, or creative, or driven. If a group of workers fling themselves off the top of one of your factory roofs to protest inhumane work conditions and your response is just to put up nets, then you are not a good person. I know we need to demand more humanity from our “leaders” and I don’t know why we aren’t doing that. That’s my disappointment with modern humans that I wrestle the most with.

34. A gun has never ever, ever ever, ever solved a problem that could not have been solved a better, more peaceful way.

35. Whether we measure it in calories, or weight, or volume, the world produces enough food to feed everyone. Yet starvation and malnourishment is still the planets leading health risk. We can fix this, we just don’t. The only things I can think of to do is to talk about it often to my kids, try to keep my need/want filter in check, and live gratefully. It’s not much, but it’s better than the feeling of despair that envelops me when I think about it otherwise.

36. I am not half the mother that the women who leave their babies and children and come to Canada to work as nannies (so they can give their children a better life back home) are. I couldn’t do it. I couldn’t miss mine growing up. I am too selfish. These women are not given the honour, respect, or credit they deserve. I think that in general we don’t give working people the respect they deserve. Every job has nobility, and has the potential to achieve excellence within it, and yet we look down our noses at the people who do the jobs we wouldn’t do. The very jobs that are most vital to our day to day sense of “civility” are often the lowest paid, and frequently the most disrespected. Think: custodian, gas station attendant, garbage man, etc, etc. Think any job that is out in the cold, or requires infinite patience, or ability to cope with unpleasantness; these are the people who make the world tick. So many take great pride in the fact that they do their job well so the LEAST we owe them is our respect. The fact that we don’t recognize the value of their work makes me very sad.

37. When I view the world as a big cold place that doesn’t play fair, I feel small, I feel scared. George Carlin said “always do whatever is next” and this, though he meant it to be funny, was sage advice. The way through fear is just to get to the next moment of life, to laugh, to act, to persevere. When I feel small I often find that what actually makes me feel better is when I say “things should be better” and then go out and find people who make that true. I feel best when around people who act with concern, caring, and above all joy. The trick, I think, is to trust that all the little problems that get solved, tears wiped, shoulders cried on, mouths fed, hugs given, litter picked up, wrongs challenged, laughs evoked … all add up to something BIG and we don’t need to see what that big thing is. When we work together on some small problem, in some small corner, the world itself gets smaller; I love that. I am so grateful for these people who keep my world small and warm and just. (This is from my Christmas letter this year but lately it has felt like my mission statement. It’s a fulcrum to help me stay engaged in the world yet joyful in life. Finding that balance is crucial for me to remain who I am, or least moving towards who I want to be.)

38. I love to laugh. It’s my favourite activity. I wish it were an Olympic event. I think great comedians are the highest form of our ‘so called’ evolved species, because the best ones are heart and soul and joy and intelligence and observation and truth at the point of intersection. And that’s amazing.

39. Happiness is a choice. My life could not be more perfect, and that’s why Happiness is a choice for me. If it wasn’t so perfect I don’t know that I am strong enough to get up every morning and make that choice. As it is I have mood swings and freak outs, panic attacks and anger; what if something really bad happened? Could I do it? I don’t know; but not without positive caring people telling me that the world is still a good place and still worth making better, even just by being a good person in it. The people I know who constantly lob negative criticisms out into the world, with no purpose or intent to make it better, wouldn’t help. I know that. So I try not to be that person myself. I won’t hesitate to say something negative if I think something can be made better, kinder, lifted, or challenged, but if I ever just start bitching and whining about stuff I don’t like for no reason, then please tell me to shut my cake hole.

40. Cake. Mmmmmmmmmm. Cake, even Gluten free cake, is delicious.

December 14, 2012

The date is December 14, 2012. It’s Friday. Today has been one of highs and lows. The highs? I rehearsed the Christmas concert songs with 2 groups of adorably off key 4 year olds and laughed and laughed, I went to the Nutcracker ballet with my wonderful Mom and some fantastic people, and I tucked my own 2 boys into their own 2 beds. The lows? Some asshole shot and killed 20 children in a Connecticut elementary school.

Now here’s where I probably lose you, but bear with me because I have a point.

It’s a terrible tragedy, and 20 families will never, ever, never ever, be the same again. They will be forever broken. My heart aches for them. So does yours. And that is right. President Obama cried when he talked about it because it is so terribly sad and because it happened “on his watch”. You cried, and I cried, because it happened in a school that looked a little like ours, and to kids that seemed a lot like ours and that is too much to take in, too much to process, and WAY too much to accept. But accept it we must.

When today’s news hit, and you hugged your children tight, you remembered to remember how lucky you are to have them. But your first thought should not have been what if they had been mine? It should have been why did it take this to remind me? Our lives are so busy, so rushed, so scheduled. Why does it take someone else’s unbelievable tragedy to slow us down? To see?

Your second question should have been “what about the over 12000 …… TWELVE THOUSAND kids who died around the world today of preventable causes?” That’s a hard question. I wish I knew how to answer it, but at least I knew to ask it.

And what of those 20? What of those 20, who were just like mine and just like yours? Who died in fear too terrible to imagine? How do we honour them? How do we talk to our kids about this?

The answer is, I think, to not give the asshole who did this more attention and headspace than he deserves …. Which is none. Those children need to be mourned, by their family and friends, by their teachers and neighbours, just like every child who dies deserves to be mourned. But the act needs no thought at all. None.

I can’t stop a plane from falling out of the sky onto my home, or a gas line from blowing up the field my kid is playing soccer on, and I can’t stop a horrible crazy person from doing a horrible crazy thing. Neither can you.

All our kids need to know is that sometimes bad people do bad things. That fact has been true forever and likely will be to end of time. But when we live in fear, when we believe there is more bad in the world then good, when we are consumed with how to prevent bad instead of how to stimulate good, then the bad guys win. And I don’t accept that, and neither should you.

I don’t want my kids to have lock down drills, the teachers can and DO think about that because they are grown ups, but my kids don’t have to. I don’t want my kids to view every stranger as bad because that stranger might just need their help one day, or they might need that stranger’s kindness. I don’t want to give bad people much room in my kid’s head to fear them. Because I want my kid’s minds to be filled with creativity and good deeds and open doors and the pathways that lead them AWAY from fear, not towards the walls built by fear. When I hear about something like this happening, my reaction is not to rush into my school and ask them to guarantee that they have measures in place to make sure this can't happen, because they can't. Beyond a few simple common sense security measures their job and MY job is simply to work hard to try to produce human beings who would never do something like this. When something like this happens OUR job is to try harder.

When we accept that terrible things can happen and we can’t do anything about the unpredictable and the unimaginable, then we leave the door wide open to change the things we can, to make the world better for those who are still here, and to make doing so the only option. And that is the world I want my boys to live in.

*Don't get me wrong, this isn't the final word on this subject, there is a LONG rant inside me about guns, and about weapons and defense manufacturers making millions and billions of dollars a year in a global recession selling guns that shoot hundreds of rounds a minute to civilians and bomb sniffing equipment to public transit and schools. A rant about the fact that 1000s of people right in our city tackle mental health issues every year but don't and would never hurt anyone; what causes someone to do something like this is something else and we need to find what that is. A rant about how we (those likely reading this) live in the safest places in the world and we lock our doors (I lock my door) but the people who live in the most dangerous places in the world don't lock theirs, because their door is a tin sheet from the garbage dump ........ they rely of each other to keep them selves safe, and sometimes they even succeed. But this rant; this rant just needed to be about not letting fear win.

Truth in Advertising - an ongoing list.

Truth in advertising lesson # 1: That woman who looks like she is having an orgasm while eating a chip ........... is faking.

Truth in advertising lesson #2: that razor cannot fly. It cannot give you an ‘ab six pack’. That woman gazing "lustfully" at the men shaving in the locker room would in actuality very pissed that they are getting their stubble bits all over her clean counter top and think their self-admiring stares in the mirror look vapid and slightly constipated ...........

Truth in advertising lesson #3: That is a piece of crap. Truly crap like. The only thing that could be more crappy than it, would be actual crap. You don't need it. What though? What is crap, you ask? ....................... if you need to ask how to distinguish shit from shinola ......... then you don't know crap.

Truth in advertising lesson #4: Your hair is actually NOT on fire. There is an advertising saying that goes "like selling glasses of water to someone who's hair is on fire." It implies and very successful ad campaign which creates easy sales, it also begs the question "whose hair is ever really on fire?" Answer: no ones. No ones hair is actually on fire. You don't need it. Creating a sense of need and then selling you the fulfillment is the ultimate goal of people who want to make money off YOUR money ............. because it's like printing money and we're not smart enough to see it.

Truth in advertising lesson #5: The world will never, ever, never ever, run out of people who are willing to make themselves look stupid on TV for money. That woman CAN actually cut a tomato, that man would actually NEVER leave his home with black spray paint crusted into his bald spot, and NONE of those people are that amazed by common household appliances ........ if they were they would have to be institutionalized and wear helmets.

Truth in advertising lesson #6 (although a strong case could be made for it being part b of lesson #5): Sometimes they really miss the mark and we get to see how dumb they really think we are. Now, as much as I enjoy a little face time with Brad Pitt (all softly lit and black and white no less) his 34 second spot for Chanel # 5 is a case in point. In mean, WTF? That was just horrible …… who wrote that? Was he sober? Do they really think anyone will buy their perfume after that? Puh-Leaze. I suggest hitting mute. I also suspect that Brad owes someone a blood debt. Why else would he have lowered himself? (See lesson #5) But they actually rolled that piece of crap out to launch Brad as the new face of Chanel, and paid him 7 million dollars to do it …… that’s a lot of perfume they have to sell. The question is, can we be so easily bought? Because if I’m going to pay $128 for a bottle of stinky water that I can’t wear to a school, library, Drs office, or anywhere really ….. they better have a better pitch. $128 pitch need to be blue and moldy cheesy, NOT orange and plastic wrapped cheesy. That’s just insulting. Pffft.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oF8NAyqxGfk

Truth in advertising lesson #7 (aka: Beg pardon?)

http://www.hauslaboratories.com/fame

Full disclosure: I love Lady Gaga. I love her kookiness, and her fierce advocacy for all kids’ rights to BE. To be who they are and be accepted for who they are. Love that. Not sure I always love her artistic vision but I’m just one opinion and clearly she’s not hurting for positive reviews so vive la difference.

I just opened my new copy of Chatelaine magazine to see Lady Gaga is selling a Perfume, like every other artist she was wooed into making a fragrance, which in the age of fragrance sensitivity always perplexes me. Plus ‘smell just like _______’ is an odd concept for me to grasp especially when so much money is on the line. And money IS on the line. A quick google search tells me that the World Perfume Industry market is worth almost 30 BILLION dollars a year. Beg Pardon? That seems like a lot of coin for a problem that largely doesn’t exist anymore, namely stink. See, perfume was designed to cover up our own horrific stench when the freshness of our annual bath was wearing off. However in an age when most of the 1^st world bathes every day I think our hysterical obsession with our own odour can dial down somewhat. Don’t you?

But I digress.

Much of the value of perfume is imaginary, meaning a bottle that costs $2 to fill can be sold for $150 depending on how well you market it. And no marketing is better than the right celebrity endorsement …….. especially if they claim to have designed it. I am picturing Paris Hilton, Lady Gaga, and David Beckham sweating over beakers and pipetting wildly in lab coats ….. yeah I’m not buying it either. But someone is. Remember 30 BILLION DOLLARS.

Beyond celebrity there is the art. Fragrance is the last bastion of Advertising Art. Every perfume campaign launches with some sort of god complex, like every perfume ad is the commercial equivalent of Fellini. It’s exhausting the one nerve I have left for “high art.” And sometimes it just goes too far. Not too racy (though it often is), or too misogynistic (which very often is), but just too seriously full of itself to possibly be real. Yet real it is.

So back to Lady Gaga and her ad for “Fame.” Supposedly inspired by Gulliver’s Travels, it is the heeled Lady Gaga (not sure if it’s actually her) washed up naked but masked with pristine hair and the entire Lilliputian Greco Roman Wrestling team have discovered her on the way to the naked masked ball, and she is REALLY into it. …… Yeah go look again, the link is at the top.

So here’s my point. The era for drug inspired art is over. It is no longer cool and shouldn’t be revived. It sends the wrong message. I know that sitting around smoking Opium gave us “Alice and Wonderland” and dropping acid gave us “Yellow Submarine” but today is a new day and the only conceivable way that could have seemed like a good marketing idea is if drugs were involved. Not cool. Either that, or they think you’ll just buy ANYTHING. But it’s your money and they owe you more than “it’s Art and you’re not supposed to get it.” I’m tired of that. 

Truth in advertising #8: "New look" or even just "New" are placed on everything to create sales. It means NOTHING. It is adver-speak for "we changed the bottle/package ...... and it is now smaller ........ PLUS we are charging you more for it ...... now bend over it will only hurt for a minute." The fact that it is widely considered the most powerful advertising statement of all is a testament to how really stupid we have all become. 

Yikes! What to expect when you're expecting your first Colonscopy.

I am a 39 year old with Celiac disease. I was only diagnosed a little over a year ago and recently went to my first Gastroenterologist appointment. She is calm and level headed and kind; all very important qualities for the person about to photograph up your butt.

My Aunt was diagnosed with Colon and Rectal cancer about 8 years previous to my first Colonoscopy. She survived but the battle scars she bears are not easy to live with. She is so strong. She is a fierce advocate for preventative screening. Early detection is key. She doesn’t mince words ….. “go get checked. Just do it.” My husband’s Uncle was diagnosed about 2 years before; he wasn’t so lucky. It took him quickly. Just 2 months before an old friend was diagnosed with a complicated cancer which involved his Colon. There was nothing they could do. He died in 6 weeks.

In 2011 the Canadian Cancer association released a sobering statement. “If 80% of Canadians aged 50+ were screened over the next 10 years, it is estimated that 10,000 to 15,000 deaths could be prevented.”

http://www.cancer.ca/Canada-wide/About%20us/Media%20centre/CW-Media%20releases/CW-2011/Canadian%20Cancer%20Statistics%202011.aspx?sc_lang=EN

What’s the problem? We think it’s gross. We’re not getting tested because we’re uncomfortable with the whole thing.

Flash back to my first GI appointment. I’m 39, Celiac, and 14 months Gluten Free. She says “I always do a follow up biopsy to check for Celiac and the healing which should have happened by now, and while we’re at it we might as well check up your ass with a giant camera.” …… OK maybe she didn’t quite say that, but that’s what I heard. Thump. Heart fell into stomach; stomach hoped heart was Gluten Free. But I’m only 39. Right?! I said “yes” because I believe in prevention, because knowledge is power, because I did not want to chicken out and find out later there was something I should have known, because my Aunt’s words were ringing in my ears and I could not (would not) let her down. Crap.

I decided right there that I would share this experience so anyone who read it might know that we all have the same insecure, embarrassed, fearful, and icky feelings about this. And we have to do it anyways.

I wrote My Colonoscopy Story as a series of FaceBook posts. I’m sure I horrified many, but hopefully I helped some people see that it’s just an experience, neither good nor bad. It’s certainly survivable, and definitely empowering, because you do it for yourself. And life is SO funny if we just let it be. The original FB posts appear in black.

The announcement.

August 22, 2012

Next Wednesday I have the long awaited follow up endoscopy to ensure my Celiac gut is healing. I will also be having my first Colonoscopy. ............... Insert random horrifying statements about anal probing here. I am petrified. Yikes. Plus the Dr. is a friend of a friend and both are very cool ladies ........way too cool to be friends with wee nerdy me so this is all too 'six degrees of separation' from my asshole close for me, but I digress. .......... Honestly this started out as a post about embracing preventative health and taking responsibility but has unraveled quickly into a paranoid rant ..........Anyhoo; I will be sharing experience. It is important for me to do everything I can to be here as long as I can and as healthy as I can so I won't miss a thing from this life. Seeing my children grow is truly a present I open every day. Some days it feels a little like unwrapping an iron but mostly it is Christmas morning. I will put on my big girl pants and try not to be a baby about this. And I will share .....probably more than most of you want to hear so feel free to tune me out for a week. Xo

Irreverent detachment …… still happening to someone else.

August 25, 2012

3 sleeps until my Alien-Abduction-free anal probing. :( Would have at least liked a trip to Outer Space.)

Bitterness and Resentment is creeping in so I went on organizational binge through my house. Long overdue. Perhaps should have Colonoscopies more often.

August 27, 2012

You know what is more awesome than a Colonoscopy with a lingering chest cold? Yes, that's right, a Colonoscopy with a lingering chest cold AND your period. Goodie. On upside, I have torn through my den and basement depositing 15 bags of recycling, and 10 bags of garbage OUTSIDE of my home. This fall I hope to tackle 8 year backlog of photo albums (and lack of actual printed photos to put in them) 

and 5 years of "art" by my wee virtuoso's which may require carbon dating to sort out. Also have not kept proper record of my children's growth and tooth loss ........ making me a terrible parent. Again. However I am determined to piece together a logical and believable set of dates and measures this year in order to lie to them about it in the future. I am nothing if not humane. There, I have metaphorically purged in preparation for literal purging ......

Prep day.

August 29, 2012

I know you all wonder what's "wrong" with me. How I ended up so weird? My Mom gave me her loving words of sage advice for my prep today: "Drink lots because by the end your lips will feel sucked in to your asshole ............. I'll bring you some ginger ale." Thanks Mommmy. Xox

The next series of posts took place over a 5 hour period in the evening. The prep is basically drinking 4 Ls of “prep solution” in a 4 hour-ish period. It’s roughly one cup every 15 minutes. I had my choice between flavoured and unflavoured and I choose the unflavoured …. I didn’t want koolaid ruined for the rest of my life. My Aunt gave my some very good advice: “suck a candy while you drink each cup and it helps.” Lifesavers are my new best friend. Also here’s a few things you don’t really want to know but, trust me, you’ll be happy you do. Have a zinc cream in the BR and use it after most wipes. No point in making it angry. Baby wipes were also recommended but I found regular TP fine if I used the cream. Also have some sort of disposable (Clorox or Lysol) wipes around to clean the toilet each time. Believe me, keeping this area of your home pristine for the next 5 hours will help make this bearable. Just don’t get the wipes mixed up!!!!

First glass down ..... barely. If dog water and caviar made a baby, and that baby swam in pickle juice; it would still taste better than this. Gack. Just 3.75 litres to go. Let the games begin.

1 litre down. Am convinced there are 4 jellyfish and an ornery octopus living inside me. 3 more litres not seeming possible. New best friend is lifesavers - all 5 flavours. Headache has rejoined party. Glad he could be here to support me. They can put an unmanned robot on Mars but can't find a way to "clean out your bowel" with less than 4 LITRES OF FISH WATER!?!?!?! Seems suspect. Someone high up in "pharma-world" has a very sick sense of humour.

1/3 of the way through vat of Golytely ..... though I swear someone keeps filling it back up. Screw waterboarding as torture method ..... this would work fine. Terrorists and Criminals would "sing like birds" by glass 3, I swear. Famous scene from "Dumb and Dumber" is much less funny now.

1/2 way. Family is eating KFC since I am fasting and they can indulge in Gluten without guilt today. Am noticing how hungry I feel since have not eaten since 6pm yesterday and will not be eating until after 5 tomorrow. I am making mental note to be mindful and grateful when I eat tomorrow ..... realizing that so many go without so often......... but not right now. Right now I am plotting the death of maker of Golytely and inventor of Colonoscopy. Right now.

All those well meaning suggestions for things to do while "prepping" are wrong. They suggest things like a home pedicure, watching a favourite movie, crosswords, a good book ....... all wrong. What they all should tell you, what they all would admit if they were really your friends, is just walk around in manic circles trying not to poop your pants between trips to the bathroom and glasses of liquid death, and just keep doing that for 5 hours. That's what they should tell you.

Actually managed to do some filing of files. Also had out of body experience during which I cursed Body for not having the decency to drink 2 more glasses of fish water in my absence. Things I won't even be eating until Thursday are leaving my body. Avoiding all deep knee bends. Had hysterical laughing fit in bathroom for no reason .......................... none of these things were listed in the brochure.

Finished last cup over an hour ago. This experience has, despite my dramatic rants, not been too bad. I am engaging in preventative health measures, and being a really real grown up, and accepting (while simultaneously embracing) my age, and so happy I picked such a soothing lovely green colour for my bathroom since I have now spent more time in it than I thought possible. It really was ok. ..................... and my Colonoscopy should be a cakewalk now since most of my bowel is hanging in tatters down my pant leg. Bwahhahahaha - kidding. Good night.

The day of the anal probing.

August 29, 2012

Good morning! Night not too bad - not up too often. It's odd (but good) to not have cramping during this whole process. Grateful for that. Am having cuppa joe sans milk and a gingerale for breakfast in celebration. I'm pretty sure that's what Wonder Woman had every morning so I'm in good company. I am remembering not to fart. That's important. Trust me, when you do this, it's important. There is no way to be lady like during this process so giving up completely is quite liberating. I have shared and will share because I really really really want you all to do this. Over 20 000 Canadians are diagnosed with Colorectal cancer every year and it takes over a third of it's victims. (For the record Breast cancer takes around a quarter). It is the the leading cause of Cancer death in Canada after Lung Cancer, and that says something. My very brave Aunt has fought it and come out on top but at a steep price. Mark's Uncle battled bravely but lost. Go do it. And if you can't find some of the humour in it then there's something wrong with you ........ because seriously, it's HAlarious. ;)

But I missed the whole thing!!!!

Well all, it's over. I would like to tell you all about it but I missed it. The whole darn thing. Arrived at Hospital a full half hour early for my check in time, so sat a bit extra in the waiting room reading the "Martha" magazine my lovely mommy bought for me and watching "Ellen" on the little TV. They called me back and had me change into the sexy blue uniform of naked hospital patients every where. Signed the "I promise not to sue" forms and then a nurse spent 15 trying to get one of my veins to take the iv .............. since it usually takes at least 2 nurses and 30 minutes for this to happen with my microscopic veins, I was pleased. They wheeled me in and Dr. McDermid, attired in a fabulous orange dress, met me with a smile. The nurse started the drugs and asked if I was feeling tired yet .................. I said "no" ..................................... next thing I know I'm in recovery. I was asleep less than an hour and woke up a little groggy but fine. My mom came and we left. Report said colon was clear with no polyps; small bowel (upper GI) did not look inflamed so the biopsies she took should show good recovery from the Celiac damage. Yeah!!! Must go see her in a month for official results. Other than knowing what a Macy's balloon feels like (since they puff you up with air) there's nothing to it. Also noted that Royal Alex has a serious case of "nice". Every single staff person I dealt with were very kind. It was a good day. And tonight I am the one who gets to play "pull my finger" with the boys.

So that’s it. What to expect when you’re expecting your first Colonoscopy. Please go. Don’t say “no”. Don’t conveniently forget to book it. Don’t let your Dr. forget to talk to you about it. It can save your life. And it’s really really really not so bad. If you laughed at ANY of this, then you’re ready.

For Paula

I was in the badlands of Alberta when I heard. It is a stark landscape famous for dinosaur fossils and long echoing footsteps of the early pioneers, cattle rustlers, rum runners, and most of all, first nations tribes who have inhabited this inhospitable place. I was standing at a high point in Dinosaur Provincial Park listening to a message of my mother's emotional voice garbled by poor reception ..... "finished the race" ...... "didn't win" ..... "her poor little heart" ........
Later, when we drove up to a viewing area with good cellular coverage, I got a call out. My parents had stayed up all night to watch the race (as did many mutual friends, and much of my extended family). Mom said "she seemed so upset. She finished the race, after stopping, and when she crossed she burst into tears. She told everyone she was so sorry ..... maybe it was her injury again ...... maybe something else ....... she did so good. We're just so proud of her."
Paula, you apologized to Canada, and it's true that you had carried all the collective hopes of Canada and all the people who have watched you, but you owe no one an apology. All that 'hope' must have weighed heavy.
Paula, you went to the Olympics and lost. But you went to the Olympics! When I think of the courage it takes to follow a dream or passion through to it's conclusion, daring to fail, well, this ranks right up there. There is an idiom "take your shot" and I believe it must predate the gun. I picture it as a bow and arrow. "Take your shot." Pick up the bow, place the arrow, pull the string taught and play along it with your finger tips until just the right tension and balance is achieved. Line up the arrow tip with the target, tap deep into some primal longing, and then just let go. Either it hits it's mark or it doesn't. Most of us let fear, or self doubt stop us from even picking up the 'bow', let alone 'let fly an arrow'.
Paula, I met you when you were a toddler and have watched you grow into an amazing young woman. From the start of your Triathlon journey, I have cheered, but also feared for you. Was the pressure too much? Were the expectations too high? Was the praise too lavish and the criticism too cruel? I have watched with all the misplaced maternal angst of someone who has loved you and your family and has watched you grow; not mine but someone I have carried in my heart. I have ached for your wonderful parents and siblings, seeing all the pressure, and all the hopes, and all the expectations which were pinned to you all.
But it was you, and you alone, who 'took your shot'. You had the courage to not only pick up the bow, but to pull back and aim it, feeling the delicious tension in the string, and let the arrow fly falling short of it's mark. But it did fly. And you did that. it was incredibly brave, and incredibly powerful, yet when you crossed the finish line you said "I'm really sorry to everybody. To Canada". And our hearts all broke for you.
Please, dear Paula, never be sorry. Not for going. Not for trying. Not for all the work. Not for losing. Not for a second. There are many, many, many more shots to taken by someone as courageous as you.

Impossible people and Private Healthcare

There are moments that just let you know you’re not going to have a good day. Usually these moments involve impossible people.

A good example is gum in the hands of a mean spirited, disrespectful, self-indulgent boy. There are people who just can’t stop. They can’t honour the feelings of others, they won’t follow rules, and they mock anyone who tries to steer them right. They are bullies of a particular sort and teachers dread them. Here’s a perfect scenario to explain these “impossible people”:

Girl comes to teacher and says “Ms B, Johnny put gum in my hair”.

“What?!” teacher exclaims and marches over to Johnny. “Johnny, did you put gum in Sally’s hair?”

“No” he declares.

“Johnny, she said you did” queries Mrs B.

“I didn’t, I don’t even have gum” he says after a hard a deliberate swallow.

“Um, Johnny, you owe Sally an apology. That is disrespectful and it will take her a great deal of time to get it out, if she even can.”

“So?” says a now defiant Johnny.

“Johnny, make a choice. Apologize or pack up your things and go to the office”

“You can’t make me, I didn’t do it …… Eloise did it. Ask her.” Sneers Johnny.

“No she didn’t!” shouts a tearful Sally.

“Yeah she did, ya dumb b*tch!” spits Johnny.

“Whoa! John! Language!” Squeals Mrs B.

“It’s not my fault!! She made me! She’s lying! Sally always lies to get me in trouble. But you can’t make me go to the office! And besides, Eloise did it!!” shouts Johnny.

…….

This, in case you have failed to recognize it, is an impossible situation. Johnny did it but no one actually saw. It wouldn’t matter if they did because Johnny’s Mother threatens legal action every time her son is sent to the office, and accuses the school constantly of lying about her son. (Because clearly Schools enjoy punching the Kindergarteners in the Bathroom and flushing their milk cards down the toilet just to “set up Johnny because they don’t like him” to use his Mother's words.) Meanwhile she lets Johnny stay up as late as he wants, gives him every piece of electronic gadgetry available, insists he needs to play Angry Birds in Math (because he’s too smart for Math and is bored ….. illustrated clearly by his solid D grade), and packs him Coke and a Snickers every day for lunch. (But yes, the problem is, clearly, the school.) Furthermore, Johnny has discovered Eloise. Johnny cruelly poking fun at and blaming Eloise for everything has become his new obsession. Eloise’s biological mom smoked crack her whole pregnancy and Eloise wears a helmet. Her response to everything, ever, is “Yes. Yes please. Weeeeeee.” Her Foster Mother, Roxanne, is a loving, frankly saint of a woman, who is devastated by Johnny’s constant scapegoating of Eloise. Johnny’s Mother has already called Roxanne a “stupid cow” twice, once at the Christmas concert (so clearly things are going well). This situation is impossible because of impossible people. Why do we accommodate them?

Children like Johnny feel completely entitled to do what they want. Always. Rules aren’t for them. Some outgrow it I’m sure (or at least I hope), but many don’t and they become those impossible people who refuse to follow even the most logical rules of society on principal. They are the “I’m a better driver when I’m drunk”, “If you’re only going to do 55 in a 50 zone then you deserve my Escalade up your rear bumper”, “And then that stupid Cop tried to tell me I couldn’t park in the Crosswalk” kind of folk. They seem to have no sense of fairness, and what’s worse is that they regard those who strive for equality and justice as weak. Where do you begin explaining such a concept to someone who has no goodness in them?

And so in walks ‘for profit’ Health care. There is no smooth or unbiased segue into this topic for me. 


By 1966 Canada had installed a clear program of Universal Healthcare to all the Provinces. And since then, governed by some set of rules or another, Canadians have had pretty good Universal Healthcare. It covers approximately 2/3 of what Canadians “spend” on Healthcare. The system is, at its purest level, a system of ensuring essential and basic Health services are delivered equitably. No one with more power or money can get better or timelier care than someone without. Simple. Good. And, I always thought, very Canadian. Enter the bullies. The impossible people. The ‘I won’t follow your rules’, ‘I can do what I please’, Healthcare marketeers. And rules weren’t meant for them. "There is money to be made and if you all are too stupid and weak-minded to see that then it’s your loss. They won’t let a little thing like ethics or justice get in their way. Ideals are for losers." …….. How do you talk to people like that? Where do you begin? How do we make this situation anything other than impossible.

In 2009 2 reputable polls were conducted showing strong preference for the Canadian Universal model of Healthcare or the American model of Healthcare at 82% and 92% respectively. “Strong preference”. In 2011 one of the same research pollsters reported that 53% of Canadians favoured and Mixed model of Public and Private Healthcare. Oh but in 2010, just 10% thought “finding out of pocket” solutions to fixing healthcare was agood option (as opposed to “finding efficiencies”, and “investing more health dollars”.

http://www.ipsos-na.com/news-polls/pressrelease.aspx?id=5680

http://www.ipsos-na.com/news-polls/pressrelease.aspx?id=4910

I don’t think the polls are congruous enough to make them meaningful. More importantly polls don’t interact, or talk about consequences. A poll does not teach, inform, explain, and I do not believe they reflect anything of importance at all. A poll does not analyse the outcome of opinions merely tries to capture them, but the questions are increasingly wildly leading and only allow for quantitative answers with no room for grey area or debate or “BUT what ifs?” ….. just press 5 if you strongly agree, press 4 if you somewhat agree. But the polls are affecting us …… we are letting them. 

Our leaders are taking action based on polls that don’t seem to accurately reflect what we actually feel, and we are not speaking up. We are so painfully Apathetic that I don’t think we could articulate an thoughtful informed opinion if our lives depended on it ……. And they just might. 


In India this week http://www.indiawest.com/news/5690-5-day-old-baby-dies-after-being-taken-off-life-support-over-rs-200-fee.html

A premature infant girl was removed from her incubator and allowed to die because her impoverished parents could not afford the corresponding 200 rupee (less than $4) electricity charge. The North  American For Profit Healthcare system  proudly insists they are not like that. They are superior in morality because that would not happen. Except sometimes it does. Sometimes timely care (or care at all)  is denied because patients can’t pay.

http://www.wcl.american.edu/journal/lawrev/52/zito.pdf

http://economistsview.typepad.com/economistsview/2006/10/preventive_care.html

Homeless people are often loaded into ambulances or worse taxis and dumped at other Hospitals because they weren’t welcome at the first. People have died. “Oh! but not a little premature baby, we would never do that” …….. No, probably not. They just send a bill. And her big brothers have to drop out of their out of their school because Mom and Dad can’t afford the charter fees, and they stop eating meat or milk or fresh vegetables, and then the car payments slip, and then the house. By the time they have moved in with her grandparents, her Mom and Dad’s marriage is over. ……. But the HMO and Hospital didn’t take her off life support....

No. Canadian Healthcare is not perfect. But it won’t improve if we let the people with money and influence opt out. There is truth in that statement. I know you see it. We need to take a stand. Apathy is the new cancer, and it’s eating us alive. It is said we won’t know what we had until it’s gone. Truer words could not be spoken. We need to have this conversation now, and take a stand on what we want for Canada. It is important.

I found a great quote the other day. "The death of Democracy is not likely to be an assassination from ambush. It will be a slow extinction from apathy, indifference, and undernourishment." ~ Robert Hutchins

Democracy only works if the people are informed. Who informs them? How do we turn people back on and engage them? Will we realize that once it’s gone, we can never get it back ……. We haven’t so far. Not with control and ownership over our utilities, forests, natural resources, water, …… is our Healthcare for sale too? This is a biggie. Do we just roll over and give it away?

We have become so grossly apathetic I am now almost embarrassed to call myself Canadian. Over 100 000 Canadians died in the World Wars for something. An ideal, really. They stood for what was right. Now you can’t rally Canadians to stand for anything. What a pathetic legacy; what a sad time. What will it take? Were those soldiers strong and decent and moral to care, or were they foolish and weak to give themselves to an ideal or a moral stance?

Do we really just let the Impossible people win?