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    Arbitrary deadlines

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    CKirkby

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    In case anyone is interested, there has been no activity on the pharmacare bill the federal government introduced a month ago and bragged about as a “giant step forward for our health system” and “a concrete step toward true and lasting gender equality.”

    I am of course unsurprised, and I’m annoyed anew at everyone who participated in the farce. But also I’m thinking more broadly about arbitrary deadlines.

    I would guess the NDP set a March 1 deadline in the hopes that would be enough time to pass before the summer break. I’d also guess both they and the Liberals liked the symbolism of introducing the bill on February 29. How historic!

    And promptly the newly introduced bill – “a game-changer for millions of people” – was plonked onto the “for later” shelf. Press conference over; millions of people can keep waiting.

    Probably lots of employees depleted themselves to prepare that bill in time for the arbitrary deadline, for what practical difference? Why do we celebrate this way of life / governance?

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    Some good sentences

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    I wrote a good sentence today in relation to the air quality saga. In response to my “now with confirmatory data!” email, the place where my lessons are held responded with more empty words about (1) the quality of their ventilation and (2) their abiding concern for the health of their students. I replied that I had just brought to their attention science from Harvard that proves their ventilation is inadequate and asked if they want to publicly take the position that over 1900 ppm C02 shows abiding concern for health. They have now said they will have someone in to test the air quality. I suppose that is in the direction of a win.

    I wrote a good sentence yesterday in relation to the project about fees for mandatory wasteful bags. I had noticed, at the bottom of one of their emails, the following legal fine print: “Bag charges reflect actual number of bags accepted at delivery” (my emphasis). This feels like legal language designed to shift responsibility to the customer: whether or not I asked for bags, I accepted them, so the fees are justified. So yesterday I did not “accept” all their bags, and then when they charged me for them anyway I wrote them an email that concluded: “Please refund the difference and ensure your drivers are made aware of the importance of complying with your own legal fine print.” (I wonder if they’re just going to change their fine print.)

    I also scribbled some sentences in draft reply to a huge ongoing argument I haven’t talked about here. I think they will be good too.

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    Empty words

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    CKirkby

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    I don’t actually want to spend all my time fighting with people.

    Ideally, when I raise concerns to someone, they would respond from a place of compassion and act promptly for the well-being of other humans and the planet. I personally think that response should be a constitutional minimum, but in fact it is a rare bird.

    More often the responses I get come from a place of complacency: “it’s policy.” As if that’s a complete answer to an unfair or harmful situation.

    Sometimes the administrators are worse than dismissive, and I wonder what the point of Roncarelli v. Duplessis was supposed to be.

    I think the responses that frustrate me the most are the ones with the subtext “we don’t care enough to spend money on this” while the text is empty words intended to sound sweet and make me go away (e.g., “rest assured,” “important to us,” etc.). I have never been inclined to accept empty words.

    The latest battle I don’t actually want to have concerns air quality at a weekly lesson. I raised concerns in December and got dismissed (via unsubstantiated assurances about their ventilation system). So now I have had to escalate to data (over 1900 ppm).

    Ideally they would say “oh wow, we had no idea, we care about our customers and employees and will fix this promptly!” I wonder if it’s actually more likely they’ll ban me from the premises.

    It should not be a radical belief that we deserve clean air and public health measures. What are our priorities that there’s so much resistance to this?

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    Change and anger

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    One of the conclusions I’ve reached lately is that we need drastic changes starting immediately if we expect society and the planet to survive.

    I’ve been trying to volunteer my time towards practical changes but it seems to me like most groups are desperately clinging to an untenable status quo in their approach. It feels like denial. I need them to at least admit we’re taking on buckets of water before handing me a thimble to start bailing with.

    But preferably we would prioritize a better long-term plan. A sustainable approach, or at least a less obviously, catastrophically unsustainable one.

    I wonder what strategic planning sessions are like these days. What is the ratio of “basically status quo” to “we are heading straight at an iceberg” participants? It’s not comfortable to speak out against a culture that’s so heavily invested in its own mythology. There are consequences. Rarely are those consequences “you’re right, thanks for pointing it out” followed by concerted effort.

    Another opinion I’ve formed is that there’s a lot of legitimate anger about contemporary issues but many people direct it at the wrong targets. It’s easy to get angry at someone with less power than you who is competing for finite resources; it’s hard to get angry at the powerful systems creating that unnecessary competition in the first place and then vilifying non-conformity for good measure.

    Anger can rage out of control and cause significant harm, but it can also be motivating. The trick, I think, is in figuring out the appropriate target for anger, what the real-world problems and solutions are, as cognitively dissonant and non-status quo as they may be.

    I suppose another part of the trick is in being heard.

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  • Admin

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    I haven’t posted in a few days because I’ve been working on a lot of other writing and admin, some pretty huge personal and financial stuff. I’ve added a few comments to earlier work though, at least a link to a great piece on the Supreme Court scandal and two new ideas re: grocery bags. I doubt anyone will notice when I comment on my own website, but at least it’s organized.

    I was thinking I might get business cards made up, with the URL. I’d have to finally settle on how to describe myself, though. “Writer” and “commentator” are probably safe to apply. They don’t convey enough on their own, but I could maybe have my categories printed on the back to help contextualize (politics, law, language, etc.).

    But what is the point of a boring business card so I’m also considering “freelance shit-disturber” or “aspiring agitator,” and maybe “occasional dog walker.”

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