Tales from the Steppes

2006-05-13

7:12 p.m.
Saturday, May 13

So where are the strong
And who are the trusted?
And where is the harmony?
- Elvis Costello

I was late to the EM's dance performance today. The road I needed to drive on was intermittently closed for a police officer's funeral procession. The time I spent sitting in traffic was not particularly productive as my thoughts were not on my work but more on why it is necessary to create such a commotion when someone dies. Not to imply that it was not tragic or anything. But when a guy behind the counter of your local Quickie Mart gets shot by a nutcase, we don't close down the roads. Is it somehow less tragic that a guy whose job it is to ring up blueberry slushies gets killed than a police officer? Maybe I am missing something here but at least the police officer took their job with the understanding that it is a dangerous one and had training to cope with the peril. I am not being disrespectful of police officers at all - I do understand that it is a tough, dangerous job. But you know, if a mentally disturbed person shoots me while I am out inspecting a property, please do not close the roads on my behalf. I do not wish to have a procession of planners, architects, and landscape architects, with maybe a few developers and citizens thrown in for good measure clogging the roads. That is not a tribute; it is a nuisance.

Yeah, I am in a great mood. Mostly, it is politics that has gotten me so annoyed. I am revolted that 60% of the country thinks it's ok that our government breaks the law. I am dumbfounded what we will allow in the name of "security". To hell with "Give me liberty or give me death." Just let us bury our heads in the sand and not take responsibility for what our government does in our name.

Ok, I'll just stop now. Perhaps I should drink a little less caffeine. I don't think it will make me any less ashamed of my country but it may make me rant a little less.

The cool thing about having a bit of time on your own is that it allows you to evaluate things in your life a little better. It is sometimes possible to isolate issues and contemplate ways to fix them. Unfortunately, it seems that sweeping changes may need to be made to fix some situations and I am not sure I am up for the challenge quite yet. But at least I have thought about it.