01/08/04 Ich bin ein Ausländer

My parents headed back to Newfoundland today. I’m really going to miss them. I had just gotten used to them being around again, then poof, off they go again. Erin and I are hoping to go and see them this summer. I really hope that we can pull that off. Life is just better having them around.

Living in Calgary is getting uncomfortable for me. I feel like an alien here. Everything that I believe in, is considered wrong here. (and is dismissed as liberalism from the east. They spit it out like a racial slurr here...) Alberta is a bastion of Alpha male machismo, Cowboys, Riggers, and Conservatives are the norm. The rest of us folks are just a little nervous. (Esp visible minorities and the poor.) Western Canada has this social lethargy, that is steeped in wretched, empty conservative dogma. I can’t believe the kind of nonsense people wrap themselves up in here. The whole uproar of gay marriage is a prime example. People here get so unstrung about it. It amazes me, and I’m often left to scratching my head.

It’s tiring to hear people here blurt out ignorant thoughts like "Why do they get a parade, How come I don’t have a parade?" (We do have one. It’s called Rush Hour... grow up and get used to it...) or "Marriage is a sacred union... Between man and woman... and they are going to ruin that..." (This is really a sad comment. Newsflash, any loving union, based on respect and equal treament is a good one, and deserves celebrating. Esp. In this day and age.)

The way people treat the poor here is insane. People, go out of their way to hiss and jeer at the poor. It’s a fairly common attitude that the poor are worse than the "Dog shit" on the bottom of their boots." This breaks my heart. There is little to no stewartship, or real sense of compassion. Most of the overt "concern" for their welfare is nothing more than an affectation. I’m surprised that Alberta hasn’t brought back the concept of Debtor’s Prison.

More later...