01:10 - 28.03.06
social commentary
What time is it when you have no time? I guess that could be interpreted many ways. Earlier today there appears to have been a water main break in our back alley. Blocked off with great big digging machines, scores of city workers and an awful muddy mess round about the suspected site when we drove past it for an outing this morning - my, Dad, my sister and I. I commented that it was a good thing I had managed to have a shower before they began. One never knows how long repairs will take, especially this time of year when the thawing of the ground tends to reveal a lot of frost damage. Upon returning home I found that the digging seemed to have temporarily knocked out our telephone and internet services, then the cable connection. Finally a short electrical blackout later in the day meant all our clocks lost their programming. Hence the comment about no time.
The outing this morning was because my Dad and sister couldn't stand it any longer - they wanted to buy baby toys and fixings. One can register on-line for just about any type of specialized product; sort of like the bridal registries of old. Great marketing and, of course, my favorite is the one for books. I don't bother keeping mine up, because basically it would have hundreds or thousands of titles. Where would I begin? I've always found when I have an overwhelming urge to go to a book store that the books I need to read sort of jump off the shelves into my hands without much effort on my part. I digress.
My son had gone to one of the local baby registries and listed a whole range of items from the very basic to somewhat extravagant for my new granddaughter. I had printed it off the evening before so off we went. Now the problem with going into stores that cater to babies is that everything is just so cute. What to choose when there is so much. All of us are "pink" deprived because most of the children in our family are boys. It is nearly impossible not to want to pick out dolls and lacy dresses. Not practical and more for our needs than the baby's, right? Safety items were a major part of the list, as were the basic everyday items one doesn't have with the first born - crib sheets, for example. After a couple of hours, the decisions were made and we headed off to lunch just around the corner. I had an omelette, while my Dad had his liver and onions and my sister had a sandwich. Nothing fancy, but satisfying anyway.
Arrived back home not long after 1 pm and tried to do all the communicating necessary between the interruptions of service for all those communication technologies. One of the co-workers my son had during the election called to ask for details of the baby's birth. She was the oldest of my staff - well over the age of retirement but one of my most solid workers. She carries on an active lifestyle that would put people half her age to shame. That includes regular exercise classes, contract jobs, social engagements and volunteer work at "the old folks home". You know, just helping those much older than her. I told her she was my role model now and I meant it. Just a very cool lady. She has her exercise classes with a lot of the other election workers so we traded information for a while and then she allowed she was heading out of town to visit family on our left coast. She'll be back in about a month and we agreed to have coffee then.
The letter from Elections Canada that was waiting for me at the post office was picked up this morning on the way to shopping. It turned out to just require an email confirmation which I also did once I got the internet working again. My sister had said their computer had seriously crashed again so I didn't feel so bad about a temporary interrruption after all. I talked with number two son for a while just checking up on the baby's health. She had a bit of a sick spell and it's hard to tell from a phone description whether it is an issue or not.
Number one son arrived around supper to do some webwork and faxing. He has really struggled to keep food and shelter consistently for his partner and two children even with two jobs demanding almost continuous work. There is a "job boom" of sorts in this province for certain but it is because employers will not pay well enough so that their workers can live on their wages. Now that there is a shortage of workers because of the high paying jobs in that one oilfield those employers are finding out what it costs their businesses when they treat their employees like slaves. They leave at the first better offer to come along and rightfully so. Don't go singing the blues to the press either.
There was a report from our federal stats department that stated that 20% of Canadians don't intend to ever retire. Reading further, it is obvious that it is because those people mostly don't have enough savings to live on. They are mostly women, like me, who had to return to the work force because they became single parents. The work we generally found was usually "pink collar" or contract/consulting that offered no benefits, let alone a pension. For all the right wing babble about valuing women's place and standing in the home, the truth is the only women of such a class that are valued are those who have spouses making good wages with traditional benefit packages. Even though the rest of the homemakers, like me, who only wanted to be good at home moms, like those fortunate few, put in the same time and effort raising our children with considerably less resources and support even before calculating in an earned income that we secured on our own, we still are left at the end of our lives of service to others with nothing but poverty to look forward to. At least material poverty that is. As long as I have a warm, quiet place of my own with access to books and such I'll probably be fine - as long as I have a full time job that is.
Anyway I digress again. Because number one son is struggling so hard I offered to help with some of the children's expenses for a while. There are a lot of people who take the attitude that one's children should sink or swim on their own once they reach a certain age or leave home, but I don't see any sense in watching a whole family drown or end up destitute for want of a helping hand in times of need. I also don't see the reasoning of people who will gift someone something they don't need or can't afford - like a car - when providing the resources they do need can help them get back on their feet. I've had more than a few conversations about that with people who haven't ever had to send their children to bed hungry simply because one had to choose between paying the rent so as not to lose their shelter, or buying groceries. Blaming someone for a run of bad luck or even bad choices and using that to as an excuse to withold essential resources - Maslow's heirarchy of needs - punishes the children first and foremost.
What is interesting is that in the book "The Acquisitors" by Peter C Newman he notes that the average amount of bankruptcies suffered by the wealthiest Canadians was five before they actually "made it". In the process of those bankruptcies what is also terribly evident is that their original families - wives and children - were often the first things shed or lost when they were in the process of making their fortunes. Even more depressing was the fact that even though those humans suffered most in order for that person to become a big player, they were rarely allowed to enjoy the fruits of their sacrifice with the benefits usually passing on to second, third or fourth families who came along after the financial carnage is over. It is usually people like this who set or influence social and family support policy with their nice political donations, so it is not surprising that they have no conscience about treating other children in need exactly the same. All tools to make them wealthier, but heaven forfend that they should share any of the benefits.
Too bad the Dalai Lama hasn't been able to effect as much change in the area of treating fellow human beings with "loving kindness", as he has in calling the government of China to account for it's treatment of citizens. I believe sins of omission are held in the same category as sins of commission in almost every faith system there is. One of the other reasons I won't have savings so that I can retire is that I will not see my grandchildren do without basics when I can help. I haven't always been able to in past years, but I can now. Maybe this one bump in the struggle to survive as a family is the last that will have to happen if my son can finally get on his feet. At least he should have that chance. I'm not certain what kind of jobs will be around in 20 years, but I'm certain I can find something that I can be paid to do. We'll see. Anyway time to go read to my youngest and the cats. Some things are priceless and no amount of poverty can take them away or diminish them.
�
�
