Dear Editor
I think that police and social workers might agree when I say abuse of little children and of elders is on the rise in Canada. Don't give me the argument that we just now hear about it.
There have always been some men who got away with abuse and there have always been some women who tried to hide the fact (there have also been abusive women). There are now men who resent women's equality and become abusive. They've always had three weapons: the fist, the tongue, you fill in the third blank.
Fortunately, most men are decent most of the time. Unfortunately, the moral majority just sit around and moralize. I've heard about a nasty incident in nearby boomtown. An older lady parked in a parking lot. She was in a hurry so didn't check the position of her vehicle and dashed into the store, rushed out and saw she'd parked at an awkward angle. No big deal, all she had to do was back out the way she came in, which she did. But not before the owner of the vehicle on her right started to curse at her.
He was an ignorant, obese young man with a partner just the same, who had the small vocabulary of today, mostly the F-word that he used freely. The two punks, male and female, were like identical twins. At one time females tried to keep the peace, but I'm told this one was a version of Carla Humulka, who egged her vile partner on to kill even her little sister.
I'm betting the abused lady, because of her era, had helped not just in her family but in her community and might be known for acts of kindness. Being from a more civil time, it is not easy for senior citizens to react to verbal abuse.
Do those punks speak like that to their mothers or grandmothers? Or is that where they learned their abusive style? What about the fathers and grandfathers? What kind of rotten role models were they?
They are products of stupid politicians or some powers that be who, two generations ago, decreed parents and school teachers could not discipline rotten little brats and those rotten little brats have now become rotten big brats. They have no sense of responsibility, no community spirit, no idea they should be responsible for their actions, no sense of conscience; it is indeed all about “me.” And the scary part is that punks can produce children and raise them to be like themselves, ignorant, self-centred and foul-mouthed.
There was a time when people sat at elders' feet, so to speak, to learn. Who needs elders when you can hug a smartphone?
I'm told the best course of action for elders being verbally abused is: 1. Do not try to reason with them; it is like trying to reason with a two-year-old in a tantrum. 2. Do not argue with them. They want you to do that so they can have an excuse, in their cave-man minds, to hit you. 3. If a vehicle is involved, try to get the licence number. 4. Report the crime to the police.
Many stores in boomtown have signs posted: Verbal abuse will not be tolerated. I suggest these signs be added to parking lots to protect customers.
Did the abused lady in the boomtown parking lot get the punks' licence plate number? Did she report them? Is she biding her time? Or is she afraid that if she comes forward, the punks and their punk friends will find out where she lives and take revenge?
It's interesting about boom times, when there is a lot of money around, these times bring in a lot of people and also bring out the worst in people.
The pioneers worked hard to create co-operatives and social movements, which created a good life, a good life even for punks who have done nothing to deserve it. The pioneers would have been shocked at many things now and that includes signs reading: Verbal abuse will not be tolerated.
Some people and many politicians like to claim that Canada is the best country in the world. I find that smug.
For example, men who have come here with the idea they can still slit women's throats in so-called "honour killings" find out they can't get away with it, but cyber bullying here is out of control and the verbal abuse thereon has brought about suicides. And those who have caused the pain don't seem to have any pangs of conscience. Why should they? That's how they were raised.
I remember driving into North Battleford in the 1970s during a snowstorm. The yellow lines in the parking lot were obscured but like the other drivers, I did my best. By the time I returned, the snow was melted, mine was the only car left and two big beefy cops were standing beside it (I call police officers cops when they disgrace the uniform). They immediately began to bully me about not parking right between the yellow lines. Explanations were ignored, even though the situation was obvious. Oh, they didn't use foul language, people were better educated then, but they used every word they could to make me appear stupid.
Although I knew those amateur gestapo did not represent the average North Battleford person, nevertheless I did not shop there again for years.
I know some older ladies, still competent drivers, who will no longer drive in boomtown. They've had enough of being cut off, being cursed for not doing jack-rabbit starts at stop lights, having to wait for drivers who don't put their turn-signal lights on until after they have turned the corner, drivers who are just downright rude. I thought the traffic situation had improved a little but I might be in an accident next week.
This letter should have a natural progression to the continuing abuse of aboriginal women, verbal and physical. The white woman in a boomtown parking lot has an inkling now of what these women have suffered for so long, at least in verbal abuse. Many are murdered, usually by white male punks. It should make our flesh crawl but hey, not my problem, eh? Not until it happens to "me and to mine.”
The prime minister of Canada can continue puffing out his chest in Ukraine or Russia to get the vote of Ukrainian-descended people in Canada but refuses to take action here on the missing and murdered aboriginal women. Of course his wife has never been alone in a boomtown parking lot to experience the dirty underbelly of "progress.”
Remember the saying that evil men succeed in doing evil things when good men do nothing. If the boomtown punks are charged, I suggest the following: 1. They must write letters of apology to a local paper, which must also appear on Facebook (someone will have to help them with spelling). 2. Make a financial donation to a seniors’ home (ouch, that'll hurt - they love money). 3. They must spend a year of Saturdays helping at seniors’ lodges, visiting, helping with entertainment. Every time they go in they must explain why they are there. The thought just struck me! I feel sorry for the caregivers who will have to look after these punks when or if they grow old. I bet they will be f-ing terrible old people!
All joking aside, verbal abuse is a serious, nasty crime. We have to stamp it out. It is the crime of cowards.
There are thousands of young people in this world, homeless, living in fear and want, all because of tyrants and bullies.
In Canada we have overfed, ignorant young people living in luxury who are tyrants and bullies. Of course, there is hope. I recently heard a young man, 22, who said he listened to his elders and although he had to deal with racial slurs, he is going to make his family proud. He is an aboriginal man, a First Nations Cree.
Christine Pike
Waseca
