Don't Believe It

Typically, a person who lives in a cold place (e.g. Ottawa) says to someone from a warmer climate (e.g. Miami), "don't worry, you'll get used to it," and then adds condescendingly, "in time."

Don't believe them.

Sure, you can wear 45 layers of clothing and go outside looking like the Michelin Man.  Hell, if you wear enough layers of t-shirts you'll be warm enough too.  But that's not the point, is it?  Shit, if you can't function "normally" (whatever that means), then you're not fucking "used to it."

I continue my walks.  But in the winter I just can't go as far or for as long as I would in the summer.  It's either too damn cold, when the wind cutting right through your hoodie and then your toque, and on through your skin into your brain, it's a bit much.  Or you're wearing insulated boots and heavy wool socks, and after a couple of hours you feel your toes freezing, it's a bit much.  Or if you feel the arctic freeze through your winter coat, your sweat shirt, your scarf, and your merino wool base layer, it's a bit much.  And I am only talking about days when it's only -20.  When it gets to -30 and beyond, and that's not counting windchill, fuck, you wanna be back indoors.

Used to it my ass.

Of course it's all relative.  For someone from White Horse or Churchill, Ottawa weather is downright tropical.  But for someone whose coldest home had been Toronto and Green Bay, this Ottawa winter shit is, well, as cold as Putin's blood.  And this is now my fourth winter here.  Hell no, I ain't NEVER gonna get used to this.

And when will summer come?  Hell, May?  It'd be so nice to go out in shorts and t-shirt again...

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As you know I am down to two courses now.  One (Lifecourse) I am okay with.  I'd give it a 7 out of 10.  The other, on inter-ethnic relations, is not as palatable.  I'd say a 5 out of 10 at best.  Every time I do the readings or the assignments for this second course, I keep telling myself to drop the fucker.  It doesn't help that the prof is hopeless (useless?) as a teacher.  Shit, we are down to three students in the class now.  Everyone dropped out.  Last Tuesday I was scheduled to do a presentation.  He fucking forgot.  I had to remind him, by which time he had talked about half of what I was going to say.  What nonsense.  I had thought that, well, ethnic identity stuff is my cup of tea, so at least I should get a kick out of the subject matter.  No such luck.  The way the course is structured, it reifies ethnicity to the point where everything is ethnic.  I guess if all you have is an ethnic hammer, there's ethnic nails everywhere.

I'll give you an example.  One of the readings for the coming week has to do with ethnic representation in the Canadian parliament.  You know, the % of this group and that group.  And how that changes from year to year, etc etc, and how that doesn't mesh with the % of ethnic minorities in the population.

Consider that for a moment.

Why, oh why, should it matter?  I have voted in every fucking single general election that I was eligible for.  That's going on 35 years.  I have never had cause to vote for anyone based on their ethnicity, self-ascribed or not.  Yet I have never felt that the MP is not reflecting my interests BECAUSE of ethnicity.  Is it just me?  Why the fuck would my interests be isomorphic with my ethnicity?  Or that of my MP?

And since when is ethnicity fixed?  It's situational, dynamic, negotiated, and subjective.  And this is a sociology course.  This being the case, why does the course presume an unchanging and fixed ethnicity, or that it matters all the time?

And if you know me, you know it fucking never matters to me.  The only thing Chinese about me is that my parents were born in China.  Am I the only one who feels this way?

The more I write about this, the more I wanna drop the fucking course.  Maybe I should stop complaining.  I mean, things could be worse.  This could well be a fucking gender studies class....

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So a bunch of fucking moron trucker are protesting in Ottawa against a vaccine mandate.  Basically, the US and Canada both instituted vaccine mandates for cross-border truckers.  In other words, you cannot truck across the border unless you are vaccinated.

These truckers (apparently about 10% of truckers) don't want to get vaccinated, and couch it as an infringement of their rights via regulations.  Yep, damn right it is.  Just as it is an infringement of my right to force me stop at a red light.  Or "pretend" to drive at the speed limit on the highway.  Or to even have a fucking license!  But less frivolously, the trucking industry is always heavily regulated.  How many hours you can drive.  What sort of health checks you must have.  And so on and so forth.  So it's not like this is anything new.  Hell, I respect anyone's right not to get vaccinated.  Just like I respect anyone's  right not to pay taxes.  But every action we take has consequences.  Live with it.

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Someone said, you should look after your health.  Why?  Being healthy just means it takes you longer to die.