My Perspective - What we're made of
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- Published on Friday, December 5, 2014
By Kate Jackman-Atkinson
The Neepawa Banner
On July 1, the patriotism in Canada is palpable. Across the country, from sea to sea, it鈥檚 red and white and maple leaves as we celebrate Canada Day and it鈥檚 easy to feel an overwhelming sense of pride in this great nation. But it鈥檚 now December, why am I talking about Canada Day?
While Canada Day is a special day, I think this time of year, even more so than that time of year, is the best time to celebrate Canada and what it means to be Canadian.
This is a stressful time of year. The first of the real winter weather has arrived and life becomes extremely busy with holiday preparations, end of year preparations and end of term preparations. It鈥檚 hard to find someone who isn鈥檛 extremely busy as the calendar counts down the last weeks of 2014. This is the time of year in which I am proud to be Canadian.
Last weekend was American Thanksgiving, which means it was Black Friday in the U.S., but also here. Canadian retailers have increasingly been offering Black Friday sales in an effort to keep Canadians, ever keen to score a deal, at home. Canadian Black Friday is essentially the same as American Black Friday, except for one simple difference鈥� it鈥檚 celebrated by Canadians.
In the United States, scoring a great Black Friday deal can quite literally be a blood sport. There is even a website called Black Friday Death Count which chronicles the injuries to and deaths of shoppers and retail staff on Black Friday. Since 2006, there has been seven deaths and 96 injuries.
This year, on Nov. 28, three shoppers were arrested in Tustin, Calif. after a brawl broke out at a Kohl鈥檚 store. Three female suspects were responsible for the assault in which one victim was taken to hospital with non-life threatening injuries and another was checked out and released at the scene. In Wymoning, a women was hit by a car in front of a Walmart.
Last year, it was more of the same. In a New Jersey Walmart, a shopper was pepper sprayed and arrested after getting into an argument with a store manager and attacking a police officer. The argument was over a television. In Virginia, a man was stabbed during an altercation over a parking spot.
During Black Friday, American shoppers have been trampled, shot and stabbed. In 2011, shoppers stepped over 61 year-old Walter Vance after he collapsed in a Target store. He subsequently died in hospital.
It鈥檚 hard to imagine such a thing happening in Canada where for years we have queued patiently in line waiting for deals on Boxing Day. You鈥檒l see no knives, but you will hear shoppers saying 鈥渆xcuse me鈥� and 鈥渟orry鈥� as they jostle one another in search of deals.
This attitude continues through the Christmas season as shoppers flock to malls and stores. We may be desperate to get this year鈥檚 鈥淚t鈥� toy and the perfect gift for friends and family, but we are still polite to one another. I know, I have worked retail at Christmas.
But it isn鈥檛 just our more peaceful nature when it comes to scoring the season鈥檚 best deals that makes me proud to be Canadian at this time of year, it鈥檚 our toughness.The winters endured by those who first made this area home would have been unimaginable to those of us accustomed to modern heating systems, thermal clothing, warm cars and high speed internet. It took a certain kind of person to call this part of the world home and to survive with their health and sanity intact鈥� to make it their home and to prosper.
That spirit lives on in Canadians today. On a day in which the temperature approached -30掳C before the wind chill, the comments I heard around town included, 鈥淎t least there are no mosquitoes鈥� and 鈥淐old enough for you?鈥�. The Brits may have 鈥淜eep calm and carry on鈥�, but we Canadians have 鈥淒ress warm and carry on.鈥�
I鈥檓 all for July 1 fireworks and barbeques, but this truly is the time of year in which I am most proud to be Canadian.
