I am sick of being had!
By who? Well to be frank everyone it seems. oil and gas companies (gas gouging), city bylaw (skate boarding demonizing), big business (nickel and diming you to death), just to name a few, but those are the obvious ones. It seems our budding capitalist society (heavy sarcasm) is very quickly becoming an autocratic nightmare for who ever is next to come. I am a father, small business owner and skateboard enthusiast, and based on these three titles alone, our current community/social economic system is a series of “bend you over a barrel” land mines. Driven by lack of empathy and want for capital, it seems there are so many people out to rob you blind, and they don’t even care if you call them on it! Every name badge wielding credit operations expect us to just lie down and give them what they demand, this over inflated joke of a credit system will implode and their threatening of all things… our credit?! Truth is something no one is interested in.
The pursuit of happiness and loving your neighbour has turned to the pursuit of how to pay your bulging phone bill and I’ll love you if you stay on your side of the fence, and for the Okanagan, that is a seriously sad thing. I am 40 years old, and if I want to take my kids skateboarding, I am going to! Where? Again to be frank, where ever the hell I want to. I’m with my children, how much trouble am I going to cause? The liability that so many businesses are concerned about, is (by 98 per cent of skateboarders) taken on their own heads. And why in God’s name am I going to pay taxes to a government who in turn hires officers to enforce bylaws written by someone who has either never set foot on or doesn’t like the “attitude” of those who enjoy this sport. That’s right, this is an approved Olympic sport!
The older I get the more I can relate to the almost comical hermit who decided he had enough, and walked out into the forest. My question to any and all reading is: How long is it going to take before we push back? Who is it going to take to make the stuffed shirts listen? When will this system become a system for the people?
Because right now, I’m getting my kids ready for a life in the forest where I know they won’t be harassed, over scrutinized or fined for having fun, or supporting their family.
JR Roy