Making It Up As I Go Along #268

MONDAY...
— Talk business with Jim in the early afternoon. Good to catch up some... even if it is business related.
— Not a bad night at work. A small group of us and we listen to the hockey game on the radio as we work. Chinese food for supper completes the night.

TUESDAY...
— Mall day for supper. Get some Subway with Megan and Ann Marie. Sort of crumby prints for much of tonight... so my stats aren’t as good as other days... but oh well.

WEDNESDAY...
— Meeting brings us to work a couple of hours early. And discussions of going to watch the Ottawa vs. New Jersey hockey game at a bar has four of us using a couple of hours of leave... so not a real busy work day.
— Janice, Laura, Shawn and I go for supper and the game. Anne Marie shows up about half way through. It’s a pretty fun night.

THURSDAY...
— Quiet day at work as Janice worked from home today and Laura is off sick... Then Anne Marie leaves early and Karen and Atlas are gone for a couple of hours... so for part of the night it’s four of us in AFIS.

FRIDAY...
— Strange night. All friendly and easy going in AFIS up to supper. Shawn, Janice, Sheila, Laura and I all go to the Chip Wagon for supper. And when we all get back, there’s an oddness to the rest of the evening in the office. So half good night and half weird night.
— After work, I bring Janice to Leslie’s house (where she’s dog sitting) and we sit around to chat for a while before I head home.

SATURDAY...
— Hockey on TV in the afternoon. Over to supper and hockey in the evening with Janice, Amy and her boyfriend.


Not much to discuss this week plus I’ve had a bit of a busy weekend that hasn’t been ideal for story writing. So I go with a little observation I’ve noticed over the week.

What Else Would You Expect?
Newfies. I’ve heard it spoken of much more as of recent times. Two guys at work, who are decent enough sorts and who like to try to make light of things would throw it at me.

If I say I cheer for the Toronto Maple Leafs... I get “what else would you expect from a Newfie?” When a trivia question came up and it was found that Newfoundlanders have more sex than any other province, again it was a slight to follow... “What else are Newfies going to do?”

And last night, when barbequing with Janice, Amy and Amy’s boyfriend... he makes a Newfie comment (something along the lines of “What would a Newfie know?”). What’s more disturbing about him is that he didn’t realize where I am from... so he wasn’t going for a friendly tease at my expense.

Also this week, the Canadian government felt it was necessary to have a committee sit down with members of Hockey Canada and see why our National Hockey Team would name a man Captain when he was accused of prejudice comments towards the French... a year and a half ago. And then I hear that the horrible comments were “F’ing Frenchman”. And the player in question never even said it.

Newfoundlanders have been called worse things than that on a daily basis. “Silly Newfie”... “What else would you expect from a Newfie?”... and so on. It’s daily routine for moronic jokes, yet if someone calls a hockey linesman a “F’ing Frenchman” there’s a national inquiry to follow. Check that... TWO national inquiries (the first one and the one that follows a year and a half later).

America has their Rednecks to make fun of and Canada has the Newfie. I make light of the digs when people give them. I may fake a little anger or give a jab back. But I’m tired of the joy others feel in making a joke about Newfies. It’s why I hate the term Newfie actually. To see dim or childish people taking great delight in proclaiming their superiority to my home province just makes me want to get mean with those people.

The worst one I’ve been around was a bitter and generally unappealing person commenting on a news story based out of New Brunswick. There was someone there who committed a crime or did something morally questionable and the story had been discussed by a group of people. This bitter individual says “what do you expect from Newfies anyway?” I looked over and said “that person isn’t even from Newfoundland.” Without a hesitation, the response was “Ah, they’re all the same.”

Maybe I’m going to have to stop laughing off and returning jokes to those who take glee in the Newfie jokes. It may make for a few uncomfortable situations but, to be honest, there are a few people that I wouldn’t mind making them squirm with their ignorance.

And I’m left wondering why it’s more acceptable to say “what else would you expect from a Newfie?” than “what else would you expect from a Frenchman?”