Life As Performance Art 93

The most interesting thing that happened to me yesterday was buying a new shower curtain. The second most interesting thing? Buying new underwear (isn't it great that underwear is something that simply cannot be bought or sold, used or second hand!). I like my new shower curtain, likewise the new ginch. It's a white shower curtain, clean, fits perfectly and it makes my bathroom look, well, professional? At least I can enjoy the illusion that life is working out as it should. I seem to be over my meltdown about Canada, the true north bland and boring. As I just mentioned in a reply to a friend's email, after all the class analysis, we are still all in the same boat. But it's a pretty leaky one, and for those of us living closer to the cracks in the hull, it can be downright scary. I think so many people get all barmy and patriotic about this bland land of ours, not because they really love this place, but because it helps them cope with fear and uncertainty. I think a lot of us already know what a sad sellout this country has turned itself into, and especially now that they simply keep throwing the poorest Canadians under the bus so that the economy can keep rolling. Sad. And evil. But no one seems to notice, and when there are panhandlers choking the sidewalks, well, they all have addictions (said the executive who can't leave his single malt alone), or they all come from other provinces (said the headhunter from Toronto). The fact of the matter is, most of our homeless are from here. They have fallen on hard times. And now it is easier than ever before to fall, and it is also now harder than ever before to get back up again. Trust me when I say this. I also became homeless, and now some of the clients I work with are or have been recently homeless, and it was hard getting back into housing. It never used to be this bad. We never used to have homelessness. And no one seems to want to accept responsibility for how bad it is now. Just wave the red and white, belt out a lusty and totally tone-deaf O Canada, and suck back that craft beer. And while you're at it, keep blaming us for making bad choices (if only some of us had choices we could make!), and keep muttering between your handfuls of Doritos that most of them come from other parts of the country, that you're not to blame for other people's misfortune, not even if you did consecutively vote the BC Liberals into power for sixteen years in the provincial elections, ignoring, of course that within a year of their first government in 2001, after implementing some of the most draconian policies against people on social assistance in the history of this province, the homelessness stats spiralled upward by four hundred percent! Idiots! And now we are being faced with the disastrous consequences of climate change, thanks to our own bad choices, and the fact that we have in this country too many people who would rather have a job in the oil sector and a fat squealing pig of a premier egging them on (fat-shaming not intended, apologies to readers of size!) than a sustainable environment and a planet that is going to survive till the next generation. Well, I can only dole out so much energy for outrage. I like my new shower curtain. My life is better than what it was. I have no idea what is waiting around the corner. All I can do is keep doing what I can, reduce, reuse, recycle, walk and use public transit, and nag the hell out of you idiots till you start taking responsible and appropriate action. It might not make a shred of difference in the long run, but at least we can feel better about ourselves. Fat lot of good that's going to do, but if we're going to go down, then let's go down with a smile on our face.