Living With Trauma: The Healers, 36

I have nothing against jogging or joggers. I think it's great that people want to get in shape and be healthy. I do have an issue with their mentality of self-entitlement and narcissism. In this regard I have come to see the way people jog in Vancouver as a metaphor for what is wrong with people who live in this city. Early on this rainy cold Sunday morning in my city I took a long walk along False Creek. To my surprise there were people out jogging so early and in such crappy weather (I don't really mind the rain, by the way) but I was not surprised by their absolute lack of good manners and etiquette in negotiating space with ordinary pedestrians. Twice I was almost bashed into from behind without a word of apology or warning, and I let them know about it. They could probably much more easily run on the bike path or, if there's no traffic, on the road itself. They don't seem to know, much less care, that they impact, often unpleasantly, on those who simply want a quiet, contemplative walk. With athleticism often comes a me first, ablest kind of mentality. I often see joggers stupidly running on crowded sidewalks with the expectation that everyone has to get out of their way for them, but they are the ones who are in our way. Such is our culture of narcissism. This happens in other ways, two. For example with dog owners. This city is really too densely populated to accommodate a lot of dogs, especially larger breeds. But suddenly, almost everyone who isn't a cat person has to have their own four-legged best friend forever and our already limited public space, not even adequate for our collective human needs, is now further compromised by all these, often off-leash, dogs. But in a cold, unfriendly city such as Vancouver people are going to be lonely for companionship, and so much easier to be loved unconditionally by a dumb canine who has to depend on you for its survival than by another human being whom you cannot control and is not going to be available on your terms. I would also imagine that with not a few joggers, they are desperate to stay in shape if they want to stay attractive to others, since people in this city tend to be very shallow and self-absorbed and hard to interest on any level that isn't somehow concerned with sex. There is also our ongoing obsession with our electronic toys, and you see all these rather pathetic and soulless looking losers wandering around transfixed by their little smart phones, as though the people around them are somehow so hostile and threatening that they don't dare interact together. We are increasingly negotiating decreasingly available public space with the attitude that we are each here alone. Since we can't really bear the thought of being crammed so close with strangers so we try to pretend that we occupy a much larger personal space, whether we are jogging into hapless pedestrians, walking our doggies on extended retractable leashes, or too fixated on our phones to know that we have just stepped in a mound of their shit. I think this is key to what is really wrong with us. We don't care enough that we are all in this together. We are too frightened, too selfish and too isolated to care, and if we want to heal as a people then this is what is going to have to change. I make a point of making contact with perfect strangers. I say hi to people on the sidewalk, wish them a happy day. The majority respond well, there is the occasional self-absorbed snob who won't acknowledge. This is a start. And I am challenging you, Gentle Reader, to try this, to make a habit of acknowledging the strangers around you, and to open yourself to conversation. To those who complain about Vancouver being a cold and unfriendly city, we each have ourselves to blame. It only takes a spark to get a fire going.