Keep Your Kaepernick

My biggest fear when singing an anthem is to forget a word. If an anthem singer forgets a word, to me, it suggests a lack of preparation, which suggests a lack of respect for the responsibility that comes with singing a national anthem. The anthem signifies, or celebrates, a heartfelt love of country and deep appreciation for all who have made our country worth loving. I think of the tens of thousands of soldiers who bravely fought and sadly died on the battlefield only because they were doing their duty, just as soldiers continue to do now.

Too many singers make a mockery of national anthems by forgetting lyrics, improvising melodies, or showboating with fist pumps, twirling towels and other idiotically inappropriate behavior; then there are the players who kneel during its performance.

I understand Black Lives Matter and the tragic truth is that, to varying extents, no one seems to be hearing the urgency of the message. Change is taking too long and happening at too high a price. The US was founded on the noblest of principles, values and ideals and it is falling short of itself. As an NFL athlete, to kneel during the US anthem before tens of thousands of stadium fans and hundreds of thousands more television viewers, is to slap the country in the face, and I suppose that was the goal. In an instant, the world took notice. Perhaps it was necessary and perhaps it was brave. The racism problem in the United States is terrible and Colin Kaepernick's controversial leap of faith is as good a place to spark change as any.

Singing anthem at Als game

To me though, kneeling during the anthem also slaps soldiers in the face. I see their memory, their service and sacrifice as a sacred untouchable, and their families must feel the same way. The flag and the anthem are symbols of what they built and fortified with their willing or reluctant bravery, blood and lives. To insult them is too great a shame. Protesting the anthem seems like protesting the soldiers and their sacrifices. They did not defend racist cops. They did not fight so that law enforcement could indulge in excessive use of force, brutality, profiling, discrimination and unapologetic murder. They fought for the precious freedom that professional athletes enjoy when they kneel on sidelines.

Maybe some of the soldiers who fought and died would say, go for it, take a knee, have your message heard and you’re welcome. I just think it’s going too far and their legacy of sacrifice is eternally too great to dishonor. Our duty is to honor our soldiers, past, present and future but, certainly, our duty is also to improve our society and I would prefer a way that does not dishonour our Canadian war dead. 

Perhaps I'm attaching too much value to the US anthem compared to the Canadian anthem. Some suggest the US anthem, like the US flag, has been stained and tainted by racism and Americans protesting it are partly protesting its mixed symbolism. People insist the US anthem does not represent to Americans what the Canadian anthem represents to Canadians. I’m surprised to hear that because I’m under the impression our anthems are about noble ideals and the brave people who sacrificed to help bring about positive change which, I suppose, makes it very much about soldiers and, ironically, partly about Colin Kaepernick.

At first the kneeling was more about the cause than the player and then it was more about the player than the cause. Now sideline protests in the US have become clouded, yet fashionable, and seem to be as much about power and posturing for solidarity as they are about presidential pettiness and politics.

I’ve had the honor of singing the Canadian anthem at Alouettes games. To sing it now and see a CFL player kneeling, would make me profoundly sad. I hope it never gets to that. I don’t want the Kaepernick approach to fighting causes to confound our understated patriotism here in Canada. The Alouettes have reached out to Colin Kaepernick. Maybe he'd be a great quarterback in the CFL but to further his cause, it almost seems like he has no choice but to wait for a job in the NFL. 

In the name of important causes, turn your back on cops, courts, legislators and leaders, if you must. Test your creativity.

Leave the anthem in peace.

Parking Pickle

My wife and I grew up in the town where we have our home. Several years ago, we woke up to “No Parking” signs on the east side of our street. We live on the west side. Suddenly, people had the right to park in front of our home, but not in front of homes on the opposite side. We were not consulted or notified and it seemed to us, purely arbitrary that the east side got the signs. There is a bar down the street and patrons are loud and troublesome. The “No Parking” signs help provide relief for people living close to the establishment.

New neighbors moved in across the street from our home. They came with a slew of relatives who drive oversized pick-up trucks pulling large landscaping trailers, SUV’s and a variety of beaters They began parking in front of our home for entire days, several days in a row, leaving late at night only to return the next day.

No one else on the street, possibly in the town, has to constantly deal with unwanted vehicles in front of their home. I complained to our city councilor when she campaigned door-to-door and wrote a letter to city hall. Nothing was done.

I’m not going to lie, as long-time contributing citizens of our town, it affected our peace of mind and quality of life. This year, I wrote another letter to the mayor arguing we were being unjustly discriminated against because we lived on the west side of the street and, as law-abiding taxpaying citizens, we were entitled to the same privileges and peace of mind as people living on the east side.

What a glorious time

The mayor met with me on August 3^rd and graciously listened to my story.  At one point, I suggested the city allow parking on the west side one day and parking on the east side the next day, to be fair to everyone.  The mayor decided to put up “No Parking” signs on our side of the street. The signs were put up on August 8th and we were ecstatic; no more unwanted vehicles in front of our home.

What a glorious time!

Yesterday I came home from work to find the neighbor across the street parked in front of our lawn, across from his empty six-car driveway. The “No Parking” sign had been changed and now allowed parking from 7AM to 10PM.

Neighbors had complained. They wanted to be able to park in front of their homes or, in the case of the neighbors opposite us, they wanted to be able to park in front of our home. The mayor had sent me an email explaining there was “a commotion over parking on our street”. As a result, all “No Parking” signs, east side and west side, were removed this morning.  We are back to square one. My wife and I are pretty disappointed. The neighbors across the street once again have the right to park their assorted vehicles, for hours on end, in front of our home. 

The mayor ended his email saying he hoped our neighbors would respect our property. Their driveway was empty yesterday and they were parked in front of our lawn; you have your answer, Mr. Mayor.

All that's left of our peace of mind

I understand our situation is exceptional. I also understand there are far worse problems in life. Still, this is the little aggravating problem we are being forced to deal with by our elected officials. Surely, there are limits to what we have to endure and provisions for reasonableness and fairness. Surely, we are entitled to the same peace of mind and privileges as others in our town who do not have to deal with similar parking issues.

I suggested putting the restricted parking hours on the other side of the street so neighbors and their guests would be able to park in the street and the neighbors opposite us could park in front of their own home.

We have been abandoned by city hall and are on our own again. Living in our town we have always been respectful of our neighbors and we don’t do anything to them that we wouldn’t want them to do to us. Now we’re wondering if we should stoop to parking in front of their home, or start parking in front of our own.