Contrasting Canada Day
Being at the centre of Canada for Canada Day is an unusual,
almost bizarre event.
Once before I went downtown for Canada Day. But that was in the middle of the day for a
couple of hours simply to get a flavor for it all.
This year we went for the big event. The Canada Day fireworks display.
There is nothing more Canadian than Canada Day. The day when we put on something red and feel
special as a people of a diverse nation.
And the biggest Canadian place to be on Canada’s day has to be
Parliament Hill… the centre of our politics.
Where every corner of the country is represented.
It’s an interesting thing, to watch the people appearing at
Parliament Hill on Canada Day. Firstly,
it’s a young group of people. Hundreds
of thousands come. In all probability,
95% of them is under the age of 70. I’d
figure, just eyeballing it this year, that three quarters of the people are
under the age of 50. And probably half
the people are below 30.
And the breakdown goes further. The oldest of the people making their way
downtown for the fireworks appear to be immigrants. Not only that… they seem to take the event
quite seriously. Families from foreign
nations seem to be here to pay their respects.
A newfound pride of their adopted home.
Those who most obviously were born here… French and English
speaking white people… were, on average, the youngest of those downtown. They are also there not to pay respects. They’re there to party.
I can’t say there was any visible violence. I saw no fights and really no arguments
either. But when the crowds became their
biggest, it is this group of people who are most annoying to the rest of
us.
When grass spaces became short in supply, the young whites
loudly claimed lands already sat on by the older immigrants. Not that they young moved the old out of the
way… but they were quick to do away with buffer zones. A space normally large enough to hold three
or four suddenly is invaded by an additional five.
And the barriers set up to keep flowers and shrubs safe from
stomping, are breached when the crowds become too great. And the breach, unsurprisingly, is done by
the young.
Be it people’s personal spaces or those spaces restricted
via barrier, these people aren’t here to respect… they’re here to party.
The worst example I saw of this lack of respect… of this
drunken stupidity… came as we were leaving the hill and walking back to our car
after the fireworks are complete.
One fellow is loudly guiding a friend back towards a
doorway. Wanting his friend to see the
source of his drunken drama. He bellows
“see this bum over here? He’s the one who got mad. All I wanted was to take the
bum’s picture.”
The “bum” was a homeless man, seeming to be passed out in a
door frame. And the drunk youth seems to
have decided a picture of a bum would be fun to share on facebook or
twitter. Or maybe Instagram. And what was sad was that the drunk
photographer wasn’t angry at the homeless man’s outburst. He seemed puzzled. As if he couldn’t understand why the dog he’s
poking with the stick would suddenly bark and snap at him.
I saw families of Chinese, East Indian, and Middle Eastern
people come to Parliament to share in the most Canadian moment of Canada
Day. They were respectful and happy to
be there. They made you feel good about
being a Canadian.
And then I saw people born with more than those people have
worked a lifetime to get. And those
people were so stupid and immature, that they thought it would be a fun thing
to photograph homeless people… showing them the same level of respect as they
would a discarded piece of furniture, left on the curb free for the
taking.
I’m glad I went for the fireworks. I’ve had the experience now and seen many
things that day well worth the seeing.
But I won’t go back. I’ll be as
most of the people I know living here. I’ll
do a barbeque or gather at a home. I’m
just too old for drunken stupidity now.
And I don’t want to witness another attempt to put a homeless man on an
Instagram feed.
WEDNESDAY…
--- Annoying day at work.
Just really ready for the vacation.
Everything is bugging me in that place right now.
--- Softball after work is good. A good way to unwind.
THURSDAY…
--- Last day before vacation. Everything is a mess. Computer programs not working, network
printers unavailable… only the best.
FRIDAY…
--- Night shift… kinda busy… but not too bad. And at the end, I’m done for a while. Drift home to the sun brightening the land
and a fine tune on the car stereo.
SATURDAY…
--- Sleep until 11:00ish then up and a walk, followed by
some last minute pre-family cleaning.
--- Edena and family arrive around 10:00 PM. Chat a while until 1:30 or so then bed.
SUNDAY…
--- Canada Day. Get
some groceries… watch the soccer on TV… then downtown. Poutine for supper and get a spot for the
fireworks. Endure the growing crowds and
enjoy the fireworks. Pretty tired by the
time we walk back to the car.
MONDAY…
--- Upper Canada Village.
We meet Paula and Eddie there and have a good lunch in the village and a
good walk around to boot.
--- BBQ when we get home… a walk after that and some Fawlty
Towers on DVD to end the night.
TUESDAY…
--- Downtown for lunch at the Sidedoor… good food. From there it’s the Van Gogh exhibit at the
Art Gallery and Edena and Duff’s house warming from there… a canvas print of a
favourite painting.
--- Home and put the painting on the wall… a bit of supper
and some more Fawlty Towers.
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