Year End..

Wow.. Final week of 2010 already.. Just seems like 52 weeks ago we went through all this.. Oh wait...




Yeah, final week of 2010. What this will not be is a retrospective. You can go pretty well anywhere to do that, and besides, I hate those things.

No, actually this is something that will actually verbalize something that I’ve always felt around this time of year. Every year for probably the last 20 or so, I’ve gotten depressed in December. I don’t know what causes it. I don’t know why it happens, but it does. The depression always seems to get worse between Christmas and New Year’s. I think it’s mostly due to the fact another year’s ending. More stuff in the history books, etc. I mean, good year, bad year, best year ever, it all ends. Another year starts and it’s a new start but not really.

The last few years I haven’t even stayed up to midnight to see the year change over. I think I was in bed at 11 last year. I don’t party so that doesn’t keep me up. I don’t know. I may be in bed early again this year. I may not be. I may just avoid the New Year’s Eve specials, since they’ve all seemed to go downhill over the last 5-10 years. Or, I may just watch the one from Niagara Falls.. And that’s only to see the Barenaked Ladies perform. (By the way, they really need to come back to Oshawa.. Or Peterborough)

So really, other than celebrating the fact that the earth hasn’t imploded, exploded, melted down, drowned, or just destroyed for an interstellar bypass, what are we celebrating on December 31? Are we celebrating the fact that we’ve had a good year, filled with memories and friends? Or are we celebrating the fact that it’s another holiday where the main idea is to drink yourself stupid? To many people, it seems that the second ties in with the first. Celebrating the year with friends and family WHILE drinking yourself stupid.

To me, the end of the year reminds me both of what’s gone on and what’s passed by. It may not always be pretty, or really even memorable, but it’s the past. And really, that’s where the depression comes from: knowing that another year has gone down the crapper and nothing’s really happened.

Who knows.. Maybe I just need to look at things in a different perspective. At the same time, maybe this is just me.. Or, maybe more people go through the same thing, but never really thought about it, or put it to words. In any event, whatever your feelings, and plans.. Have a good one this December 31. Don’t drink yourselves too stupid. And in 365 I’ll probably write something similar..

'Tis the Season...

As we get closer to another Christmas holiday (yeah I know. Again? Already? Didn’t we just do this last year??) We have those people who get to spend time with their loved ones.. And you have those people who are stuck at work for whatever reason. While the reason varies, people are still away from their families. Now, I’m not saying we shouldn’t have doctors, nurses, police and other essential services working on Christmas. They are necessary. But really, is it going to kill you if you don’t have milk for less than 24 hours? And if it is, you have far more serious problems than I’m willing to get into here.


So this is the start of what will probably end up being a yearly thing, even after I get out of the hell that is retail convenience. I’ve been saying it verbally now for four years, but this is the first time writing it down. Convenience stores and retail in general should not be open Christmas. Period. Stock up on Christmas Eve or suffer till Boxing Day. If your forget something, tough gingerbread. We’ve become too accustomed to convenience. Forgot something? Just go to the corner store. It’s open, even at 3am. Of course, someone has to be THERE at 3am for the people who can’t remember to pick up what they need when they’re out, but I digress.

The only people who benefit from stores being open on holidays are the people who forget to get what they need and the shareholders of the company, if it’s public. The operator doesn’t win. The staff doesn’t win. The operator has to pay out wages regardless, more if the person actually works on the day in question. Still has to pay holiday pay out. It gets really expensive paying someone $20/hour to babysit an empty space. The staff member, while getting that extra money the government immediately takes their bite out of, has to stay in the store and work. On a midnight, that gets quiet. I should know. Where I am there are nights where I don’t see people for three hours. That’s $30.75 out of the operator’s pocket with nothing coming in.

Of course, the people who make the decisions about whether the store is open or not hasn’t actually worked in the store for years, if ever. It’s unlikely they’ve even worked a retail environment period. And of course, because they’re the big wigs, THEY get to spend Christmas at home with their families, while the people their decisions affect have to suffer.

I still remember when the decision was crapped out four years ago that we needed to be open regular hours on Christmas. Their reasoning was “Gas stations are open 24 hours. Why shouldn’t we be?” Good reasoning except for one tiny, miniscule part: We.. Don’t... Have.. Gas.. Pumps.. Yes, there are some locations that have gas pumps attached to them, but that’s a small portion of the company’s stores. So really, the decision comes down to corporate greed. They figure they’re not making enough off the backs of the drones working the hives already by being open till midnight Christmas Eve and 9-5 Christmas Day, so they needed to change that. They decided that they needed more money. More profit. Problem is, they’re the only ones making anything off it.

Where I’m from, if you forgot to stock up on things before Christmas, you were S.O.L. till Boxing Day. The convenience store we had was open 364 days a year. They didn’t even open Christmas Day, so the people could spend time with their families. As it should be.

Now, we may never be able to go back to that time, where things were actually CLOSED on holidays, but it would be nice to be able to get reduced hours. You do not need a place to be open 24 hours on Christmas. If you do, then you need to learn to plan better, or to anticipate where you might run short on something. Until that happens, maybe I should hibernate for December. That sounds more and more appealing as I think about it..

December.. Holiday time

So.. Ryerson University has a handbook out for students that talk about the holidays and how to enjoy them. It mentions all the different cultural celebrations in the month of December but omits a rather large one.. I’m sure without even saying you know which one I speak of.


But yes, Ryerson omits Christmas from their handbook on the holidays. Why? “To be more culturally inclusive” is the answer, of course. Now.. I don’t know if I want to laugh or cry. Laugh because that’s the biggest load I’ve ever heard, or cry because it’s a massively hypocritical policy that does the opposite of what these Politically Correct inclusion monkeys are actually looking for.

I mean, really. I applaud the inclusion of other cultures’ celebrations. Just because they came to Canada doesn’t mean they have to leave their history and culture at the door. That’s not my intent, or my interest. I’m all for whatever celebrations you’re celebrating, as long as it’s reciprocated. I celebrate your holiday in a tolerant and polite manner; you do the same for mine. If I went over to India, for example, I wouldn’t expect the natives to accommodate my holiday at the expense of theirs. So it’s kind of funny that we’re so willing to give up mention of Christmas to make others feel welcome. Are we really that push-overable??

Now, the other thing that the Politically Correct Inclusion Monkeys don’t realize is that by excluding mention of Christmas in literature or conversation, you are excluding a culture. By making the other cultures feel welcome; you are pushing away the very culture WE live with.. The Canadian culture.

I’m not going to say that if we stop mentioning Christmas, the terrorists win, but.. It’s pretty close to it. By not mentioning Christmas, you’re forgetting a large portion of your student base, and your country’s base.

We’ve become too sensitive to what the whiners want that we don’t listen to what the MAJORITY want. This is a democracy. Part of that democracy is freedom of speech and freedom of religion. Excluding Christmas infringes on that freedom.

So really, this is a case where the Politically Correct Inclusion Monkeys win.. The problem is, they are the terrorists in this case as well.

The "Friendly" Skies?

So with the holiday season coming upon us, people are getting ready to travel. Well, with the travel, they get a free scan with x-ray glasses or a free medical exam. How fun..


I haven’t really heard too much about Canada yet, though I’m guessing we’re not too far behind the Americans on this one, but some U.S. airports have full body scanners where the person looking at the images can see everything. Remember those old ads for x-ray glasses where the makers claimed you can see people in their underwear? Yeah.. Like that. Except this actually shows everything..

Those refusing the full body scan get treated to what amounts to legislated sexual harassment. Someone will give a full body pat-down, everywhere. Now in theory they’re supposed to do this in a private area, but that may not be the case in practice. Recently, a girl flying from Sudbury to Toronto received the “enhanced pat down” before boarding the plane. In public, because “no private facilities exist at the airport.” My thinking is simply this: If you’re going to invade peoples’ rights and privacy, do so in private. I don’t get a rectal exam in public, I expect not to get fondled in public when all I want to do is board the plane and go where I’m going to.

Now, this is all done in the name of safety and security. Already people have written to newspapers saying they’re willing to give into the pat downs and invasive searches if it means the plane doesn’t explode because of a bomb. The problem with this, however, is the agency in charge of the security has already said they won’t search Muslim women to “preserve their dignity and rights.” But it’s fine to impede our rights because Muslim fanatics have been using planes to attack.

I’m no genius, but if I were a terrorist organization obsessed with attacking the West, as soon as I hear the airport security won’t check Muslim women, guess who I’m recruiting for my plane bombing missions?? You can put explosives head to toe, cover with the full-body veil and there you go.. Gift wrapped doom from above.

Instead of turning into a grope-fest at the airport or, dare I say it, turn airports to nudist colonies, how about we start looking for visual clues that someone might be carrying something explosive in their briefs? Does the person look nervous? Is the person sweating an unusual amount? Darting eyes from side-to-side? Not looking at the security officer at all when being asked questions? It’s called profiling. Profiling doesn’t have to be racist. You don’t just pick Muslim people. That is racial profiling. The profiling I’m talking about is looking at the questions I have above, and if the majority are true, then examine the person a little closer. They may be white, black, purple, or orange with yellow stripes. Doesn’t matter. They might just be worried about flying. That happens.

The funny thing is that if you don’t agree to the airport security’s gropefest or the scan, they can throw you out of the airport and charge you. With what I’m not sure, but this is the case for the guy who’s gone viral for telling an officer “Touch my junk and I’ll have you arrested.” I’m sorry, but no touchy-feely. I’m married. It’s spoken for. Otherwise, dinner and a movie first.