Day 28: Care

It used to be OK to care about what you looked like. People used to take pride in how they looked, that was until the mid 80's when grunge first emerged. Teens in the 80's decided that it was no longer cool to care about how you looked. Most of us spent a lot of time trying very hard to look like we just rolled out of bed. It took a lot of effort for the average suburban middle class kids to look homeless.

Day 27: Watch Your Stories

It used to be OK for moms to watch their favorite soap opera's during the day. It was common for women to get together for morning coffee, do some housework and run errands and then settle in to watch their story of choice. In the 70's there were 19 different soap opera's, by the end of 2010 there will only be 6 left on the three major networks. What are moms these days spending their time doing....excuse me, I just need to go check my wall on Facebook.....and text my kid about lunch...

Day 26: Kids Sharing Rooms

It used to be OK to have your kids share bedrooms. Since the 1950's the average house size has more than doubled, from an average of 983 square feet to 2, 349. Combine that with the fact that family size has decreased in that time period, each person in the family now has approximately 900 square feet of personal space. No wonder commercials and parenting experts promote eating supper together, since you can be in the same house all day and never be in the same room!

Day 25: Patches

It used to be OK to sew patches on the knees of your kids pants. When was the last time you saw a kid with patched knees on their pants.

Patches take too much time and new pants are cheep thanks to hard working kids in other parts of the world.









Kids working for kids!

Day 24: Energy

It used to be OK to use energy. NO longer is this the case. We are now required by the laws of our privileged North American lifestyles to feel guilty for using any natural resource. There is good reason to feel guilty as to me it is clear that we are exploiting the world to maintain our impossible standard of living, its just that, like most catholics, I sometimes get tired of feeling guilty.

I think this 1947 Public Service Announcement must have been one of the first energy conservation messages ever. To be honest I really don't know what "watch your meter" really means or why it was important for the public to do so in 1947. If anyone knows please enlighten me (use the "comments" button at the bottom of the post).

Day 23: Sun Tanning

It used to be OK to Sun Tan. As a kid I remember walking home from school and people would be laying out in the sun tanning. They even made extended adjustable lawn chairs for tanning that came as one of the types of chairs in most patio sets.



I guess these chair-beds still exist only now we slather on SPF 60 before laying down.



Or we cover with an umbrella.




When was the last time you someone tanning in a movie? I don't think they made an 80's romantic comedy without a tanning scene. Either the woman was tanning as part of her "reconnect with herself" day after the break up or the neighborhood kids were pulling a prank on the unsuspecting tanning girls.

As seen in this public service announcement being out in the sun can be dangerous, although I'm not sure I would consider getting wrinkles a "health problem"!


Skin cancer is the most common type of cancer and if left undetected can lead to more serious and life threatening cancers fairly quickly. The good news is that rates of skin cancer in Canada have been declining by 1% annually since 2000 in women and 2001 in men.

Once again women have proven themselves better informed and more open to change then men. It took the men a year of nagging to put on sun screen and still I need my wife to apply it because I don't like getting my hands greasy (sad but true).

Day 22: Blue Jeans

It used to be OK to wear blue jeans while downhill skiing. Well maybe never truly cool it was certainly common sight and generally acceptable.



Now we have......

X-Bionic Energy Accumulator Medium-Length Pant



The X-Bionic Men's Energy Accumulator Medium-Length Pants have a high-tech base layer that features insulation on the hips and other fast-cooling areas to keep you warm, while air channels in the groin area stop you from overheating. Channeling air in my groin sounds fun. The Energy Accumulator Pants have sweat traps that pull excess perspiration away from your body to be evaporated but leave a thin film to ensure you stay cool without needing to perspire more. Light pressure from these pants stops your muscles from vibrating too much—this improves your performance by saving your energy. The calf-high cut accommodates your ski boots and provides less coverage for not-so-cold days.

Technology Rocks!!!!

Day 21: J-Walk

It used to be OK to J-Walk. I think this informative public service film from 1948 really says it all.

Day 20: Drink at Work

It used to be OK to drink at work. This is so insane to me I had to check and make sure it was actually true and not just a romanticized memory of life in the 50's, 60's and 70's. Apparently it was not uncommon for men and women to drink while at work especially in an office setting. Most companies didn't have drug and alchohol policies until the late 80's or early 90's although by then openly drinking in the office was frowned upon.

No wonder they didn't worry about objectifying women or the fact that there were no people of colour in the office, they were all too drunk to consider the inequality.

Ahhhh the 50's, what a magical time.

Day 19: Kill Ducks for Oil

It used to be OK to kill ducks to get oil. Syncrude was accused of acting negligently in not taking appropriate measures to protect wildlife at their oil sands operations in Northern Alberta. As a result of their lack of due diligence Syncrude has killed thousands of birds in the last 2 year and rightfully so has been found guilty and is being held accountable.

In our society this means money. To bring a company to justice we have decided that we need to make them pay as punishment. This as well seems reasonable to me as I expect creative sentencing will direct the Syncrude fine money to preserving and restoring natural habitats in Canada.



The real issue I have with these kind of stories is that the point is completely lost in the dollar value of the fine or the number of birds killed. The average Canadian (that's me and you) doesn't seem to be able to make the connection between what a company like Syncrude is doing in the oil sands and their cost of living.

We are NOT willing to pay the true cost of things.

What is the actual cost of gasoline, both in terms of dollar value and environmental impact. Not until the average, too busy to really think about it, Canadian realizes that idling their monster truck for 10 min every morning kills ducks is there going to be any real change and North Americans will continue exploiting to maintain our lifestyle.

The spill in the gulf is another perfect example. Until we all take responsibility for the oil lapping up on the shore nothing will change. It is easy to point the finger at BP, it takes much more honesty to ask how we all may have contributed. Do we not see that the standards around BP's drilling operations is a reflection of our expectations and a result of our demand for inexpensive fuel.



If you are still not able to make the connection between environmental impact and our expectations as a society the National Energy Board of Canada has made a direct connection for you.

We are about to start offshore drilling in one of the most fragile ecosystems in the world, the Canadian Arctic and our government is asking for our direct input on the requirements to be placed on drilling operations. Basically do we want to decrease the "attractiveness" of our oil and make it mandatory for companies drilling in the Canadian Arctic to have adequate preventative measures in place before they start drilling or not. These regulations will cost the drilling companies money and as they will not be able to pass these extra costs onto us as consumers(due to the fact that we don't know or care where our oil comes from) the regulation make Canadian oil more expensive to mine. The question really is are we willing to pay the true cost of the oil and provide protection to our environment or do we want to continue pretending that the way we all live if reasonable, sustainable, moral.

Day 18: Not OK

It used to be OK not to be OK, sad, down, out of sorts, cranky, hyper, over emotional, under emotional, even flaccid. Now they have a pill for that.

Day 17: Sneezing

It used to be OK to sneeze in public. I sneezed in an elevator the other day and if looks could kill the four passengers I was riding with would have widowed my wife (the toll of my death has obviously not been kind to my beautiful wife, photo left).

I sneezed into my half bent arm at the elbow as is the current protocol. Perhaps we should all start carrying handkerchiefs as is suggested in this 1953 public service announce film targeting rude sneezing in public.

I understand the reasoning for sneezing responsibly in public but I think a little more tolerance might make sense. After all sneezing is an involuntary reflex. As our lives get more and more sterile medical science warns that in our current hyper-germ-phobic state we may actually be breeding stronger and stronger bugs while weakening our own defenses.

Day 16: Taking Your Time

It used to be OK to take your time, to take time for yourself, even to do nothing. Now we are all so connected with information and each other that we have no time. I'm checking work messages while I eat breakfast, taking calls while I ride my mountain bike, looking at data and making decisions during dinner.

Even in the shower my time is measured and I'm being asked to be even more productive by new hair and body wash.


Dial® for Men
BODY WASH WITH CLEAN
RINSING TECHNOLOGY
Hair + Body
Here’s a shortcut any guy will appreciate – a liquid soap that gets your hair and body clean, without extra bottles or steps. Get clean, conditioned hair and skin in a single step. To give you more time for more manly stuff.

I'm not sure I even had this problem until Dial came along to solve it. Is the 2.5 seconds it takes for me to grab a different bottle pop the lid and squeeze shampoo into my hand really cutting into my free time.

"Where were you? I called your cell...I sent you a text.... your facebook status says your home....why didn't you answer my tweet.....I finally emailed you....what's up???"

"Sorry I was in the shower trying to think of some manly things to do with the 2.5 seconds of spare time I gained with my new Dial body wash."

Day 15: Littering

It used to be OK to litter. I'm not sure anyone would have agreed that littering was OK but I'm not sure anyone thought to ask until it became a problem. When I say a problem I mean a significant cost to local governments to clean-up litter. Unlike most government programs which simply treat the symptoms (crime rate raising = hire more police) most littering campaigns attempt to address the problem at the source. When I say the source I mean ignorant simpletons with low self-worth.

One of the first such campaigns in Canada was "Litter Picking Pete". I couldn't find a picture of Pete but I found this CBC radio broadcast introducing him.


In Edmonton we spend over 2 million a year on a public awareness campaign "Capital City Clean-up"

These campaigns are great and help municipalities reduce their maintenance costs but the fact that people need this kind of help makes me crazy. Maybe not crazy but fearful. Fearful of the kind of people I'm sharing public space with. I suppose littering is based on the same ridiculous logic that smokers use to explain their right to a cigarette in public space. Now that I think about it smokers are some of the worst offenders when it comes to littering. For some reason cigarette butts are not considered litter by most smokers.



Edmonton recently updated their littering by-law 14614 to specify address discarding of cigarette butts on the ground as littering (subject to a $250 fine). If you would like to report an offender within the city of Edmonton just call 311.

Day 14: Fixing Stuff

It used to be OK to get things fixed. Gone are the cobblers and small appliance repair-shops. The Maytag-Man was forced into an early retirement. North americans are finding better and more efficient ways to exploit cheap overseas products eliminating the need to fix anything. It's cheaper to have children kidnaped from the streets of Indian and Asian cities work to build a new one then it is to pay a repairman in your own neighborhood to fix it.

Day 13: Failing

It used to be OK to fail a student if they did not meet the minimum academic requirements in a given school year. This is a tough one as I agree with both sides of this argument. I do believe that curriculum is only part of what you learn at school and that the social acclimation component is as, if not more, important. Holding a kid back a year may have a significant negative affect on his or her social education which could effect them for their entire lives. I also, however, cringe to imagine how my formal education and subsequently my adult life would have progressed without the fear of real consequence. I struggled through periods of my education as most people do and it wasn't until 3rd year University that things really started to come together. Without the fear and social consequences of failing I don't expect I would have ever made it to 3rd year. Apparently failing doesn't even happen in University anymore.

I think adversity is a necessary part of growing up. As a parent I would like to shield my children from all difficulties even though I know this would only be doing them harm. Facing difficulties allows a person to sort out the tools they will eventually need to succeed in life. The difficulties are an important part of what makes us who we are. So I guess I vote for consequences even the harsh ones like being held back a grade.

Day 12:Use a clothesline

Although many of the younger generation would think this is referring to a wrestling move, it used to be okay to hang your laundry out on the clothesline. Developers and communities began banning laundry lines to improve the image of their neighborhoods, as laundry hanging out was a sign of the working class, those unable to afford expensive dryers, and people found it offensive to see there neighbors gotch on the line. Considering that the dryer is the second largest consumer of electrical energy in the home it has now become an environmental rights issue, with states and provinces now passing anti-clothesline ban legislation and documentaries being filmed about laundry line rebellions. Now that so many communities have regained the right to dry the way they want, night classes will need to be offered to show new laundry liners how to safely use clothespins.

Day 11: Dropping In

It used to be OK to drop in on your friends for a visit. In todays over scheduled world dropping in unannounced has become fully rude. Everything from play dates for your kids to simply having coffee with a friend needs to be scheduled weeks in advance. Part of the problem is that the world has become more competitive and this includes parenting. "Competitive parenting", where parents are constantly comparing themselves and their kids to others who seem more organized, more together isn't a new phenomena but rather an important part of human nature.



To evolutionary maintain a healthy population, individuals within a given gene pool should be comparing themselves as a relative gage of success the problem lies in the definition of success. Beyond the biological success of passing on your genes, individual success really should be about living each day as fully and happily as possible. A person should spend their time reducing the frequency of stressful circumstances and, using an independent individual measure, do as many things that make them happy as possible. Living like this is not selfish and does not mean neglecting ones responsibilities as acting selfishly leads to loneliness and neglecting responsibility leads to stressful circumstances.

We instead allow ourselves to be crushed by social expectations and generally feel helpless, like life is happening to us beyond our personal control. Changing the definition of success even just a little may help bring a perspective that allows the false importance of social expectations (manifested as over scheduling) to be realized and maybe we can all slow down enough to figure out what is really important in our lives. With only 16,425 days left in my life I hope I can live happily as many days as possible.

Day 10: Fur

It used to be OK to wear fur even for Joe Namath. In general people in North America no longer recognize fur as a symbol of status but rather an indication of ignorance or at the least irresponsible complacency. I'm not sure this is entirely fair.

Some of the information that I could find regarding human comsumption of animals:
- 50 million animals are killed annually for their fur.

- In the US alone 18,329,712,900 (I think that's 18 trillion) animals are killed annually for food consumption (Cattle:35,507,500 - Pigs:116,558,900 - Chickens:9,075,261,000 - Layer hens:69,683,000 - Broiler chickens:9,005,578,000 - Turkeys: 271,245,000)

- Most information I came across suggested that animals raised for fur and animals raised for food are governed by the same agricultural laws and in general are raised under similarly horrific conditions.

The difference between animals raised for food and animals raised for fur is rationalized by most people using the obvious distinction that fur is self indulgence and food is a necessity. For me this argument doesn't hold water here in North America where the average household wastes 50% of the food produced for their consumption. Some of this waste comes at the production level but most of it comes in the home.

If we are talking about irresponsible indulgence fur is the least of our offences. Think about the lakes we have drained in the Canadian Arctic to mine jewelry grade diamonds for rings and earrings. Or the everyday ritual of stand around for 15 minutes singing being lightly caressed with clean drinkable water while a billion people a day go thirsty. It is estimated that for a high quality of life a human needs 135 liters of water a day. The average Canadian uses 700 liters a day. This volume includes water used for cooking, drinking, hygiene, industry (oil production), agriculture and the service sector.

So the next time you righteously look down your nose at that fur clad movie star, take a minute to think about the 1 million people that died that day of hunger and thirst and how your lifestyle may have played a part.



We all need to start making decisions based on morality and equality rather then greed. Only then can we add fur to the list of things that makes a person ignorant.

How about that for a wondering rant, eh!!!

Day 9: Leave your kids in the car

It used to be okay to leave your kids in the car to run in to the store or even to have a quick drink with the boys. Section 17 (2) g) of the Child and Family Services Act states that a child under the age of 12 years, is not to be left unattended without reasonable provision being made for the supervision and safety of the child. I don't think that means having a 4 year old watch his 1 year old sister in a parked car with the window cracked. Safety advocates are reporting that deaths from hyperthermia have been more prevalent since the mid-1990s when drivers were first required to put their children in the back seat, where they are safer in transit but more likely to be forgotten. I can't imagine the horror of accidently leaving your child in a car on a hot day, but to purposely plan to leave them there baffles me.

Day 8: Racist

It used to be OK to be racist. On December 1, 1955 in Montgomery, Alabama, Rosa Parks, age 42, refused to obey bus driver James Blake's order that she give up her seat to make room for a white passenger. Thinking about this scenario playing out on my own bus ride into work today was really difficult for me to imagine. I suppose the fact that I couldn't fathom public segragation is a good indication of how far we have come as a society in only 50 years. I do feel, however, that there is still a long way to go to reach Martin Luther King, Jr. dream of every man being judged by the content of his character and not the colour of his skin.



In todays world we still allow people to identifying themselves by race and show pride associated with that identification. When Oprah Winfrey stands up as a strong woman for change and not a strong black woman to set an example for other African Americans perhaps then we can start to realize the true dream of equality.

Day 7: Spanking

It used to be OK to spank your children. I have always thought that hitting a child to correct an undesirable behavior is wrong. I remember contemplating the logic of corporal punishment at a fairly young age and determined it to be fundamentally hypocritical. I still hold this belief and as a parent I do not hit my children. Canada has a spanking law and although it does not fully outlaw striking a child as a parenting technique, the law does prevent the use implements and puts age restrictions on physical discipline. The law's main enforcements comes by giving the courts discretion to decide what is "reasonable force".

Reasonable force is outlined in the law as follows:

(a) Corporal punishment for children under the age of two is not reasonable
and is harmful to them as it has no corrective value given the limits of their
cognitive development;
(b) Corporal punishment of teenagers is not reasonable and is harmful
because it can induce aggressive or antisocial behaviors;
(c) It is not reasonable to use implements or objects such as belts, straps, or
rulers, etc., due to the physical and emotional harm the use of such
objects cause;
(d) It is not reasonable to strike a child on their face or head due to the harm
these physical acts can cause; and,
(e) Corporal punishment must not be inhumane or degrading or harmful and
there must be no lasting bodily harm.

I really don't see the difference between adults physically correcting each other outside a bar (assault) and an angry father physically correcting his 10 year old son. For those with the argument that physical correction does not come from a place of anger are fully delusional.

Day 6: Drink and Drive

It used to be OK to drink and drive. There isn't much explanation required with this one. It amazes me to think that people actually thought and some still do that it is OK to drink and drive. I can just picture the bars full of men on a Friday afternoon after work, complaining about the hassles of family life. Knocking back four or five and then hitting the road. The fact that Madd (Mothers Against Drunk Driving) still needs to spends $12 million annually to raise awareness is shameful. How could this money be beter spent let me count the ways.......

I think Gabriel Iglesias has an interesting take.

Day 5: Playing Outside

It used to be OK to let your kids outside to play. Spring, summer, winter and fall we played outside all day most days. At least that's how I remember it.

If we weren't organizing a road hockey game or digging tunnels in the snow banks we were throwing rocks at a wasps nest or building jumps for our bikes or wandering around the woods piecing together weather beaten fragments of adult magazines.



According to Statistics Canada after increasing through the 60’s, 70’s and 80’s crime rates in Canada have been falling for the last 20 years (30% reduction since 1991). This reduction in crime includes non-parental child abduction rates, which have been going down since the 80’s. So if the chances of your child being killed in a car accident are 1000 times greater the chances of them being abducted by a strange man looking for his “lost dog” why are we giving our kids less and less room to roam while at the same time the number of speed related car accidents raises annually. An intriguing issue of perception far to complicated a subject for this blog.

Day 4: Being old and looking it

Happy 143rd Birthday Canada! It used to be ok to be old and look it.
Now we have many remedies for the pesky signs of aging - Botox, laser resurfacing, hair dye, hair plugs and who knows what else on the horizon.