Understanding

I went to a panel discussion on racism today, which opened with this question, posed by a First Nations woman.

"How come First Nations people are called savages? We smoke a pipe and have the smoke carry our prayers to the creator. In Christianity, people eat a piece of bread representing the body of Christ, which sounds like cannibalism to me. Why aren't Christians called savages?"

I thought that was interesting, because anyone being called a savage would say their culture isn't being fully understood.

A lot of problems are caused by misunderstandings or the failure to at least try to understand. And, even if people do understand, they might not care about the other people's feelings or beliefs.

If people tried to truly understand where each other is coming from there might be less name calling and fighting.

When a speeding driver cuts me off, I try not to get angry, because what if that person is in a rush to get to the hospital or something. Of course, maybe if I did understand that they were actually just being a jerk then I might get angry and call them a nasty name.

Okay, understanding won't work either. Who am I kidding? There will always be name calling and worse, with or without understanding. That's just how the human race likes to do business on this complicated web we weave.

Rushed.

I hate those days when I leave the house in such a rush to get somewhere that I know I must have forgotten something. There is just no way I can leave the house fast without forgetting something.

Today, I even looked down to see if I remembered my pants, which I did. Thank God. Is it possible that I could actually forget my pants someday? I really hope not.

The Injury Report.

Today, at karate, this eight-year-old kid had a molar knocked loose by the instructor. And it was an adult tooth too. There was blood running out the side of the kid's mouth. It was pretty nasty.

All the instructor did was turn around and the kid, who was standing right behind him, took an elbow to the face. It was an accident. The kid will definitely need a trip to the dentist.

Karate can make you feel like an abused spouse or child. While getting a tooth knocked out, or even a bloody nose, is rare, bruises are common. When I first started and had sensitive forearms, I had to wear long sleeves to hide the ridiculous amount of bruises I was getting, just from blocking punches.

I bruise less now, but every now and again I still get some ugly bruises. Three weeks ago, at a provincial team training session, I had a bruise complete with blood blisters that ran from my elbow to my wrist. I had another large bruise on my stomach. I couldn't even tell you where the bruises came from. Obviously, I took some hits. I also had a large scratch under my arm, as well as some pinch marks, from some grappling we were doing.

I'm glad I'm not a wrestler, because I hear breaking the cartilage in your ears is a common injury in that sport. And the cartilage never heals right. You get what they call cauliflower ears.

Workshops

The dilemma I often face when going to a writing workshop is: "What work should I submit?"

Should I submit something good that might impress other writers? Or should I submit a horrible piece of writing that has been grating me and is in desperate need of workshopping?

I go with the latter. As a result, I'm sure there are a lot of writers I respect out there going: "Really? That girl's a published poet? Really? But did you just read what she submitted at that workshop? What a piece of crap!"

There can be no ego when it comes to battling your own worst nightmares . . . I mean poems.

The Unsung Hero

There are the obvious heroes in society--the police, fire fighters, the neighbour that pulls you out of your house in a fire...

I would add the tow truck driver to that list. Who else is going to come at 3 a.m. to rescue you after you've done something stupid, like hang your car up on a meridian?

Tow truck drivers risk their lives helping you in your stupid moments. I recently met one tow truck driver who got hit by a speeding car while trying to help another person out of a ditch. The tow truck driver flew through the air and landed on top of his tow truck, breaking his back. His nine year career as a hero ended. After three back surgeries, and two years of recovery, he now cleans used cars at a sales lot.

A few weeks ago, a submerged pot hole took my car out. Even though I know enough to drive through puddles slowly, my rim was bent and my tire was damaged. The tow truck driver who came to my rescue was able to assess the damage, which later saved me from being ripped off from the first mechanic where I took my car. That mechanic said my car was far more damaged than it actually was, in hopes of earning a few extra bucks from my stupidity. I got a second and third opinion and realized the tow truck driver was right and the first mechanic was a con.

Tow truck drivers, they're heroes. Because I'm not going to be able to pull you out of a ditch at 3 a.m., even if you offer me $80.

Life

"Life consists not in holding good cards, but in playing those you hold well." -Josh Billings

Terrifying.

They built a glass skywalk over the Grand Canyon. While I'm not typically afraid of heights, the thought of standing on a glass platform over the Canyon freaks me out.

Although, if given the chance, I would take the walk. Apparently, it's like floating on air, until the wind starts to blow and you have to grab onto the railing to steady your knees.

Get this. You only get access to the glass deck if you sign up for a $50 tour package. Steep.

Down with the sickness...

I've been really sick lately with a throat infection, which came with a fever. At my worst, I couldn't talk at all and my left eye was swollen shut. It was pretty disgusting. I'm only now starting to get better.

What I hate about being sick is that you have to vanish off the face of the earth. I've missed a week's worth of karate and I'm still not up to going again yet. Not unless, I want to risk having some sort of uncontrollable coughing fit or just plain out collapsing.

When I first started getting sick, it was pretty hard to slow down the momentum of my life. There was too much on the go. "It's just a soar throat. I'm fine," I said. But when people started telling me to go home, I had to pack it up. Now I'm just sitting and waiting for my body to give me the go ahead to resume my life.

Sickness is like an annoying house guest. It doesn't call in advance to let you know it's coming. At the very least, sickness could tell you when it plans to leave. But it keeps saying "just one more day."

Fatigue

You know you're tired when you almost fall asleep standing in a grocery store line up.

The asylum...

Do you ever feel like you've seen something that cannot possibly be real?

The other day, I saw a guy trying to clear the frost off his car windshield by blowing on it with his mouth.

No kidding.

And then the day after that, I saw a guy running down the street in minus 20 degrees Celsius weather with no shirt on.

I mentioned this to a friend of mine and he said he's seen all that before.

Really?