I just had a birthday....🎂🎁 and it made me think of this.... 🤨

Last week I had another birthday. What I find interesting about this yearly event, is who pokes their head out to say 'hi', and let you know they're thinking of you, sometimes people you don't expect. I know the people who will go out of their way to reach out, and I also know the people who will dig their heads in the sand. And hey, that's fine. 

Just don't think I don't notice. 😘

Where am I going with this? 

Earlier today as I was cleaning the house, I recalled a birthday many years ago. I was probably in grade 5 or 6 and despite being very unpopular and shy, I invited all the girls in my class to the birthday party. (I would've invited the boys, but I was even less popular with them 🤷🏻‍♀️)  I believe most (if not all) showed up. Everyone had fun. There was food, I'm assuming a cake, lots of screaming kids running around, and that's pretty much all I remember from the event. 

What gets me about it is many years later, long after I moved away and back again, I occasionally see these girls from that particular party. Except probably one, most of them act cold and standoffish. I actually had one go out of her way to avoid me at the local drugstore a few years ago, something someone with me noticed. Others look apprehensive to even say hello. One of which I saw recently at a second-hand store and pretended not to see me until I called out to her. I don't look that different I wouldn't be familiar to this person who was one of my few friends back in the day. Having said that, there's at least one in the group that I see regularly, who's always friendly and chatty, but even there, I sense a distance and I'm not sure why. I'm not saying that I want these people to put me in their Will but isn't it interesting we can't connect on something as innocent as a childhood we shared, even in a small way. It's pretty sad actually.

But that's our world today. I'd like to blame it on the pandemic insanity, but it started before, and I'm not sure why. It's disappointing. I don't write this to complain or do a 'poor me' cause chances are, if I had a conversation with most of these people now, I wouldn't give two fucks to talk to them again, but I do find it strange that people become so cold with age. It's like some people view their life like a business and since they already hired all their staff, they're making it clear to no longer take applications...you know, even if you aren't necessarily applying. 

It's an interesting reflection of our world. And maybe a little disappointing too. 

One of my birthday gifts from a fellow Golden Girls fan!

Politics isn't a team sport 🏈

Giving people advice is almost always a waste of my time. It doesn't matter if the advice is sought or not, whether or not I have valid experiences to back it up, or even if I have the facts behind it because people don't see me as a legitimate source. Perhaps they view me as a flake or wacko; I'm not sure, but they definitely don't think I ever know what I'm talking about, and that's fine; it don't hurt my feelings. I have more productive things to do with my time and energy. 

I bring this up because I also avoid the topic of politics. If you haven't guessed it already, it's for the same reasons I explained in the first paragraph. Not that it matters, because these days, most people bring it up on their own anyway. You could be sitting around a dinner table or standing in a checkout line at the grocery store, and someone will share their opinion with you. And if you disagree, they repeat all the talking points they heard in mainstream media. If you attempt to break down why that's not correct, they grow frustrated because, much like our current politicians, they've only memorized the lines of this play; they didn't actually read the whole thing. 

People on social media are probably the worst. Everything is virtual signaling. They deem it necessary for everyone to know their stand and that they're 'good people' following the 'right' path. I've mentioned this previously. But more and more, politics are starting to feel like a team sport. It's no longer about making positive progress but your 'team' getting another point. In fact, it's as if people are more tied up to their 'team' than they are concerned with the results. So what if people die, families go hungry or become homeless, or if life in general is miserable and hopeless, as long as your 'team' is doing better in the polls or scoring some political point. It's all about rubbing it in your opponent's face. It's like a sporting match, where people trash talk the fans on the other team, except for the stark reality that this isn't a team sport, an irrelevant game, but real life with real consequences and relationships you're never getting back. 

In the end, the test is how we treat each other. We're not going to pass.

It was on purpose 🤷🏻‍♀️

Call me cynical, but a lot of the miseries of the last few years were on purpose. It may not be popular to say so, and those who believe in the good of the world will probably disagree, but unlike them, I'm skeptical of the good of the world. And even more so, I'm wary of governments, corporations, and organizations. It could be incompetence. It could be apathy. But I don't believe that to be true.  To believe that is to still have faith in the world, which I don't. I want to, but I don't.

What am I referring to? What's on purpose? You can fill in the blank. The pandemic. The fallable vaccine. The economy. Inflation. The collapsing healthcare system. I could go on. 

And it's not so much that someone pressed that magic 'fuck the world' button, but that those in positions to do so, turned a blind eye as the first domino was about to fall. After which they shrugged their shoulders and said, 'but it was out of my hands' or 'it was impossible to foresee things turning out this way'. If I saw things turning out those specific ways and other people saw those situations turning out that way, then how could the so-called experts and scholars at the top not see it?

And again, maybe it means that everybody at the top is incompetent and stupid, but if that's the case, why are they at the top? How did we, for example, get so many incompetent politicians who are also surrounded by equally stupid and incompetent people? 

Because it's on purpose. Follow the money. Everyone responsible should be audited and investigated. But you know what? Even if they were found guilty, many wouldn't believe it because we've been told any uncomfortable truths are misinformation. That's if the judges and auditors do an honest assessment in the first place. The rot runs deep.

Because it's all on purpose. 

How to build a government bulldog

Back in the horrid days of Covid (although I'm not sure they ended...) I was astonished by how many people constantly repeated the government talking points. The media, coworkers, strangers, it didn't matter who I was around, I was hearing them parrot all the absurd lines, such as, 'two weeks to flatten the curve' and 'we're all in this together'.

Neither of those things turned out to be true. Still, people ignored this fact. Without realizing it, we entered a boiling-a-frog scenario. You never turn the water up too much right away, but let him enjoy a warm bath first. We know this because the next stage was, 'good people get vaccinated' and 'good people wear masks' (you should check back HERE where I talk about virtual signaling) which turned up the heat on that same frog. Finally, we reached the 'take the fucking vaccine or you'll be ostracized from society!' stage. This is where the frog boils This is the behavior of a tyrants but apparently, if 'health' is the concern (or children) then literally anything can be forced down your throat even if it's not logical.

None of this would've gotten off the ground if people hadn't complied. Not only did they comply, but they quickly became the government's bulldog, screaming at people in checkout lines because they stood too close or cut them out of their lives for not doing what the government wanted. To this day, those same people will justify their actions, claiming it was perfectly acceptable and....normal to act this way, considering the circumstances. All I'm saying is that I'm happy that these same people weren't guards in Nazi camps, during World War 2. They'd later be the same people who'd say, 'I just did what I was told', taking no accountability. If, at this point, you still feel justified being a government bulldog, then you're probably beyond help.

Covid aside, it hasn't stopped, has it? We've seen this again and again in various situations, always involving the government. Yesterday I heard about a 15-year-old kid who sang the American national anthem at a hockey game and was booed by Canadians. Who told us Americans were our enemy?

Oh yes, Trudeau. The same Trudeau who didn't want to deal with potential tariffs so hid under his desk for over a month, then played victim, as he always does. Then he rallied his bulldogs (I feel like someone in history did that.....🤔) and they fell in line. As it's been pointed out on social media, the same people who spit on fellow Canadians during the trucker convoy, now are so pro-Canadian that it hurts. The same people who wanted to get Pfizer tattooed on their face during covid, now want to replace it with a Canadian flag. The same people who were completely happy to see Canadian businesses close down (some, for good) during the pandemic, now want to only shop Canadian. Give me a fucking break.

Just like wearing brand names as a status symbol is considered respectable now, so is being a government bulldog. It's what 'good' people do. Of course, you might want to stop admiring false Gods when you decide to sharpen your teeth. If you're going to pull up your sleeves and fight for someone, make sure the person you're fighting for would do the same for you, and more importantly, are worth it.

Don't f*ck with my friends 🙅🏼‍♀️

Growing up with no siblings, just my mother and me, and minimal connection to other relatives, I've always viewed my friends as family. They've been the people I confided in, who supported me, and in turn, who I support. During the whole Covid nightmare, it was my friends who kept me sane. We helped each other through the dystopian tyranny that we lived under in Canada, which in some ways, hasn't completely ended. (but that's another story for another day)

At any rate, I know who those people are and I also know who those people aren't. My friendships have changed a great deal in the last few years. I can no longer be friends with people who don't support freedom of speech in this country (which is, surprisingly, a lot more common than you think) or people who think it's justifiable to ostracize a portion of society because they didn't want to get a vaccine or even worse, feel they should be punished by not 'following the rules'. Those friendships could be a slippery slope and unfortunately, you might not want to find out as you're sliding into the gates of hell and it's too late to stop. I have no reason to believe this is the kind of person who'll have my back if needed.

This touches on one of the reasons I was prompted to write this blog today. It's also to complain about people's lack of self-control on Facebook. I often offer up my opinions on the site, especially political, to show people what's happening in the world. They can think or believe what they want, I don't care. However, I don't appreciate having my opinion attacked on the app. A reasonable argument is fine, but a full-on attack on my comments is insane. The fact that people feel comfortable doing it is a bit concerning. However, when you attack my friend's comments on a post, that's another story. That's when I'm done. 

I was about to completely go off of Facebook yesterday for that reason. I posted a FACTUAL statement about a politician want-to-be, something I felt people should be aware of and my friend made a comment, then someone else jumped on and attacked her. That was enough for me. The fact that pure hatred is directed toward me or my friends over an opinion is just disgusting. Furthermore, why are people so quick to stand up for politicians? Would the same people stand up for me? And if you don't remember anything else from this post, then remember this: Politicians love it when we fight with each other because we aren't directing anger toward them, and we don't notice the underhanded things they're doing. Why would anyone stand up for a politician or put their complete faith in any of them, I'll never understand. But to fight with someone on Facebook over it?  It's pathetic. 

So, I'm no longer on Facebook. My account is still up because I oversee my writing fan page and deleted almost everything. You see, attacking my friend, was the final straw. My friends are my family. And you don't fuck with my family. 

Don't be loyal to a color

I recently read a fascinating (non-fiction) book that took place about a hundred years ago. Probably the most fascinating thing, however, was the fact that despite all the times people got fucked over by the government, they continued to support the same parties that fucked them over.

Am I being too blunt?

Without getting into too much detail, this family was loyal to one, specific political party. Later in the story, we learn that this particular party completely screwed over the family. Not only did they financially screw them over, they essentially used them up and spit them out. And yet, the family continued to be loyal supporters of the party.

I guess this fact wasn't so surprising to me, considering I see it in real-time in my own century. What surprises me is that people weren't smarter back then, but equally naive as they are now. I always thought people were gullible now for a multitude of reasons including being much more distracted with technology, tied in traffic, and things that wouldn't apply to people in the early 1900s. Having said that, I hesitate to say they're busier now because we are talking about a time when manual labor was much more intense than it is now. You didn't throw the dishes in a dishwasher and clothes in the washing machine and sit your ass down to stare at Facebook for an hour in 1920. 

These days, it shocks me how blindly (and I can't emphasize that word enough) people follow some political leaders and make excuses for them. I mean, I once considered myself a Liberal, then for a short time an NDP, and now I've swung more Conservative and People's Party of Canada because I watch what they're all doing and saying. I don't loyally stick to a party and make excuses for them and pretend I don't see what I don't want to see. And really, that's the problem now. I'm pretty sure these supporters are the same people whose 16-year-old could get high on cocaine, steal their brand-new SUV, and smash into another car, killing a family and they'd make excuses for him. 

Johnny's friends were a bad influence on him. You just don't understand. 

The problem is that the car wreck that's Canadian politics now can't be resolved until everyone admits the truth and make politicians accountable. Maybe even dive in and learn about a topic, rather than automatically accepting the mainstream media spin on things. I don’t give a fuck what side you’re on officially, our country is in trouble. If you want to show your loyalty, show it to Canada. 

Shopping Canadian is not a new concept

With recent discussions about a 25% tariff on products coming to Canada, people have been talking more about shopping for Canadian products. To many people, this isn’t a new concept. Many of us attempted to shop in Canada before any tariff threat. After all, we wanted to support our country, workers, and people. But why does it take a tariff threat to encourage loyalty to our country?

There's been a lot of talk lately about Canadians being discouraged from loving their country. I was brought up to have pride in Canada, to sing our national anthem in school, and to believe we're the greatest country in the world. Is that still the case? Do Canadians still have loyalty to their country? We certainly aren’t encouraged to with our government. And if we step away from that whole can of worms (and it is, once you start digging - a whole other topic for another day) why would we go for the foreign companies and products and not buy from Canada?

It's the price. Many people will tell you that foreign chains are cheaper. Maybe they have different products that are more appealing, but also you have to consider that less manufacturing is done in Canada now.

I remember when I was a teenager, I loved to shop in Moncton, NB. I had the chance to get off the island and see more selection than was available on PEI. One store I often shopped at was Bootlegger and I remember even as a kid, I would check the tags and be happy to see that (at that time) the clothing said 'Made in Canada'. Now my memory may be a bit hazy, after all, it's been a minute, but I'm pretty sure this was a possibility back in the day. Good luck finding that now.

I currently live in a rural area and try to shop in my community as much as possible. If I had a family, perhaps the lure of shopping in a larger area would have more appeal since there would be more mouths to feed on a budget. However, I try to shop for sales (and stock up!), and if I can't find what I want here, I try to shop for Canadian stores online. If I order from Amazon, I buy a gift card at a local store, so they at least get a sale. Maybe it's not much, but it's something. I've researched companies to make sure they're Canadian. And sure, they probably have products made in other countries, but at least I'm helping keep a Canadian business going, keeping their staff working. Having worked retail, I know that does make a difference. No business means no hours.

It takes time and a little research, but in the end, it's worth it.