There's quite a bit of grey to think about with Black Friday

This week, I’ve been frustrated with some comments about Black Friday. For many, the idea of Black Friday is wrong. I understand where they’re coming from, but the reality is that as long as consumers show up, the hype isn’t going to die down. 

Black Friday used to be more commonly known as “the day after Thanksgiving”. For as long as I can remember, that day has marked the official kick off to Christmas shopping. I have personally gone shopping on the day after Thanksgiving to take advantage of the sales as I completed my shopping lists for Christmas.

I once worked 14 hours on the day after Thanksgiving. I was absolutely exhausted by the end of the day. The atmosphere was happy, energetic, excited. People were gearing up for my personal favorite holiday of the year - Christmas. Working that day was actually fun. I was even interviewed for the local news.

Though the term “Black Friday” has been around for decades, it became a marketing ploy only in the last decade.

As with most things, the press has taken isolated yet extreme incidents and created an impression of rampant violence fueled by the greed of American consumers. 

I’m not a fan of what Black Friday has become. I think many of the “deals” are suspect and it saddens me to see shoppers worked into a frenzy to spend money in order to save a few dollars. If I lived in the US, I would no longer participate in any way with what it has become. I also won’t participate in the burgeoning Black Friday sales that have made their way into Canada. (And, for the record, we avoid Boxing Day as well.)

There’s been a lot of disturbing criticism of Black Friday that hits home to me, because it comes across as judgmental, uses generalizations or makes accusations of hypocrisy. 

The judgmental criticism is usually centered around the idea that Thanksgiving is a time to spend with family. And I totally agree. The Black Friday sales that are creeping into Thanksgiving Day (Black Thursday) - ugh. I just hope people boycott those retailers. However, the day after Thanksgiving sales really aren’t any different than Boxing Day in Canada. And though there haven’t been the same reports of the kinds of crazed shoppers that have happened in the US, it doesn’t mean that can’t or won’t happen here. 

I’ve seen a lot of generalizations that lump all Americans into various unflattering categories (both implied and explicit) - selfish, materialistic, greedy, etc. Sometimes generalizations can be used to make a point and recognizing that they are generalizations can soften the impact. But there are a lot of people in the US who are really good people. Some of them choose not to participate in Black Friday. Others do participate. The vast majority of the shopping that goes on happens with long waits, but customers remain civilized. Unfortunately, that’s boring, so it doesn’t make the news or internet memes. 

Finally there’s the hypocrisy claims. Suddenly it’s bad to be thankful Thursday and then go out and buy things Friday. I could probably come up with a list of dozens of reasons that people might be out shopping that don’t have anything to do with acquiring more posessions. One happens to be the original purpose of Black Friday - Christmas shopping (presumably for others). And so what if I go out and buy something new for myself? Does doing so the day after Thanksgiving make me somehow less thankful?

Instead of questioning the motivations of those who are going out on Black Friday to shop, perhaps it’s more productive to think about the reasons we’ve gotten to the point of frenzied shopping in the first place.

1. We have had years of downturn in the economy, workers who can’t find jobs, etc. 
2. There is more pressure than ever before to keep up with all the latest and greatest stuff - affordable or not.
3. People want to save money wherever they can to live up to a certain standard.
4. Some people think they will feel better if they go shopping (retail therapy).

I’m not so naive that I think everyone is out there due to misfortune or for altruistic reasons. However, I know that not everyone is out there for the negative reasons that are being thrown about on social media lately. 

There are over 300 million imperfect humans in the US. There are over 30 million imperfect humans in Canada. Both countries have their pros and cons. Both countries have awesome people and not-so-awesome people. Neither country is better than the other. 

In my opinion, it is foolish to think that Canada is immune to these kinds of incidents, especially as they’ve already happened here before. So, perhaps it’s time to stop being critical and start speaking with your feet by walking away from Black Friday. That’s the only way retailers are ever going to tone it down.

Oh, Canada! A newbie "guide" from a veteran immigrant (Part 1)

A wee disclaimer to start: This is all in good fun. I promise. (Well, most of it. If I decide to be serious, I think it will be obvious.) There will definitely be some poking fun at Canadianness. :) I will refer to Canadians throughout in a way that alternately amuses and annoys me in the media and other conversations when its done with regard to Americans. Yanno, as if “the Americans” all act, feel and think the same way? Also, I’ve converted my thinking, so temperature readings are all in Celcius, but I’ll be nice and translate…er, convert for you Fahrenheiters since I have a diverse audience.

*****

Later this year, I’ll be able to say I’ve been in Canada for 12 years. I think I can now safely write a guide for those entering Canada based on the things I’ve learned.

1) Canadians have an even bigger thing for gravy than southerners. It’s true! They even serve it in a cup and dip their bread in it. They love drowning everything from fries to sandwiches in it. I remember the first (and last) time I ordered a “hot sandwich”. I expected chicken between two pieces of bread of some kind, all of which would be warmer than body temperature. What I got was exactly that, but it was also drowned in gravy. (<——Click the link if you want to see examples.) I think I even ate one or two bites in my attempt to avoid being rude. I would suggest to the Canadians serving this that ” hot gravy sandwich” is a more accurately descriptive name.

I avoid poutine like the plague. Poutine - for those who are uninitiated - is fries drowned in gravy and topped with cheese or cheese curds. There are other variations, but this is the traditional way it’s served up. I like ketchup with my fries. Not gravy. Not vinegar.

2) Speaking of ketchup, Canadians also have a thing for ketchup chips. I suspect the gravy and vinegar thing started because they ran out of ketchup when someone got this crazy idea of putting it on chips. I can help with this! Stop production of the ketchup chips and save it for your fries. Poutine problem solved! It cracks me up that the girl in this video describes the ketchup chips as being “covered with red stuff”, because that’s honestly the most accurate description.

3) Canadians love to talk about weather. Some complain. Some observe. Some make jokes. Some complain about the complainers. It’s as much a national pasttime as hockey. The triggers are predictable for Ottawa - I cannot speak for other areas, though.

From January to December, it goes something like this: Major snowfalls/deep freezes, then the weather gets a bit milder, so we hover in the -5 (23F) to 5 (41F) zone which brings freezing rain and lots of falls and car accidents as we slip slide through our days.

As soon as we hit double digits (50F) on the plus side of zero (32F), you start to see the fewer boots, heavy coats, mittens, toques (winter hats - who knew that was a metric/imperial thing!? Also, it’s not pronounced tokes. It’s toohks.). The bonus is that people start to show up to work and other obligations on time now that they don’t have to spend 15 minutes bundling up.

It’s inevitable that some (women in particular) will get tired of waiting for it to be 20 (68F) and will don their cute sandals for work at about 15 (59F). Most of them also have space heaters under their desk so their toes don’t freeze off.

August July and August are HOTtawa months. Yes, even for the Florida girl.

The heat takes so long to come that you’d think it would give us an easier transition, but no. The first snow since I’ve been in Canada almost always happens on or around Halloween. When it happens, you can hear the collective groan that covers all the cheers from the two people who get excited about snow.

I still say it’s a miracle anyone settled here and stayed. Although perhaps they were trapped in by the snow all those hundreds of years ago.

4) Canadians really want Stanley to come home. Alas, for yet another year, he’s not going to make it.

5) Getting back to weather, Canadians have a fear of rain. I recently watched half a dozen people get off the bus, open their umbrellas, walk ten feet to get under cover and close them. As soon as it starts to fall in the least little amount, from drop to drizzle, they break out the umbrellas. Having lived through torrential downpours and hurricanes in Florida for 23 years of my life, I am thoroughly amused by the perceived need for umbrellas here. After all, one can practically dodge the drops and stay dry through 95% of the rain that falls here. I can only conclude that there’s an irrational fear of rain. 

6) Canadians say “eh” a lot. Usually it’s a statement/question kind of thing: You know Canadian bacon isn’t really bacon, eh? Sometimes it’s like the period at the end of a sentence: I could probably write a whole post on the use of eh, eh. 

7) Canadians take a lot of pride in who they are and what they do. Not having grown up in Canada, I can’t relate to a lot of the “inside jokes” that my friends and Matt’s family sometimes refer to. Particularly the ones in French. I often find myself smiling and nodding. For those who think that Canada is “just” an extension of the United States, you couldn’t be more wrong. Canada is unique. It has a culture that is charming and engaging. You won’t ever truly understand this unless you come and stay awhile. Canadians are kind, thoughtful and concerned people who want the world to be a better place for everyone. 

I was only going to write one post, but there is just too much to share. This needs to be a series of indeterminate length for now.

What do you think new residents of Canada need to know?

Yearning for May 3rd - an American's view

I’m going to preface this post by saying that I am not the most up-to-date, knowledgeable person when it comes to politics - in Canada or the U.S. Many of my reasons for not following it closely are detailed in what you’re about to read. Beyond that, I simply don’t have an interest beyond knowing who stands for what and voting for the one I agree with. (Or disagree with the least, which is actually more common.) As a non-citizen in Canada, I am not permitted to vote, which affects my interest level as well. I may over-simplify some of the issues to keep this brief, but just know that I am aware that it’s more complex than I’m stating in certain cases. Chalk up errors to my status of still learning how all of this works in Canada.

On Friday afternoon, Canada’s parliament voted 156 to 145 in favour of a non-confidence motion against the Conservative (minority) government that has been in power for the last five years. This vote has triggered Canada’s fourth federal election in the last 7 years at a cost of roughly $300 million per election. 

Rumours have been going around for weeks about an election coming. But this week you couldn’t miss the glee people had about the government falling to this non-confidence vote. Many Canadians on twitter, which is often where I see news, were expressing their personal opinions about the government and their happiness that an election is going to happen.

While I can understand not wanting an elected official(s) in power that you don’t agree with or you feel has lied, I’m floored at the personal attacks and the joy over having our tax dollars spent once again on an election - the outcome of which is in no way certain! I’m not going to get into all the ins and outs and commentary on who will/won’t win and the various possibilities, but unless there is a huge movement to change a lot of people’s minds, we could very well end up yet another ineffective minority government and even more divisiveness.

Ironically, many people are commenting that they’re dissatisfied with how little Prime Minister Harper’s government has done. That’s all well and good to say, but minority governments are often powerless to do anything because the numbers simply aren’t in their favour. If I remember correctly - and I may not - this would be the 5th election since I moved to Canada just over 10 years ago. That’s an average of one every two years. So I ask, how is any party - minority or majority - supposed to accomplish anything when they rarely agree on how things should be done?

Coming from a primarily two-party system in the U.S., the overwhelming selection of parties to choose from in Canada is just one more thing that baffles me about politics here. Which party do you support? Is it the Liberals? Conservative? Independent? New Democratic Party? Bloc Quebecois - which is mostly from Quebec Ridings? These are just the more widely recognized parties, i.e., they actually hold seats. This vast selection is precisely why we have a minority government in the first place. Here’s an overview of the House of Commons, which shows the number of seats held by each party. It’s easy to see why there is such division and it makes my head ache to think of yet another election that is most definitely not going to make the general public happy.

Politics in the U.S. gets ugly, but the frequency of elections in Canada makes me miss fixed terms that are legislated in the U.S. At least there you have a timeline to work with and it’s possible to accomplish something without the constant threat of an election call hanging over your head at the first wrong move.

Sigh.

Is it May 3rd yet? My head hurts.

Ten Years

I remember it as clearly as if it was yesterday. It was a cold, crisp November day spent driving from Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, through New York state, across the border and eventually into Ottawa. It was my first road trip between Canada and Florida, but it wouldn’t be my last. 

The sky had that unique-to-winter look of clear coldness with an element of foreboding - the clear day would bring snow. Driving through upstate New York, we encountered a winter wonderland of lake effect snow. Another first for me. It was magical to see. The dusting of snow on the bare trees. The perfectly smooth mounds on each side of the road. I couldn’t take my eyes off the landscape - it was so incredibly beautiful.

Later, as we approached the border, butterflies began making an appearance in my belly. The documentation was complete. The van was fully packed with everything we could possibly fit. Nothing had been left to chance - I even had a ring on my finger. I couldn’t stop thinking, “What if…?”

The border services stop was shockingly anticlimactic. We parked the van and took all the documentation that I’d carefully prepared into the building. Other than the staff, we were the only ones there. We approached the desk and handed over my documentation. We expected to have the van searched, but all they did was stamp my passport, attach my visa and send us on our way. As we crossed the bridge and drove into Canada, I tried to grasp that I was driving home. To my new home.

It was mid-afternoon when we crossed the border, but already growing dark as is common in Canada in late November. We pulled into Ottawa as snow softly fell from the sky during rush hour traffic. It was another really beautiful sight to see on a day that was very surreal for me.

Ten years ago today I moved to Canada. To spend my life with the man I love.