I woke up this morning feeling the most incredible sense of pride for my country and it's people.
As a portion of it burns and it's people run for their lives with only the clothes on their back. Like refugees in their own province.
As people lose everything and have to drive by their burning lives. Confused, scared and desperate to escape.
They do the unthinkable....
They stop...to help others.
They throw their own belongings to the ground to make room for those stranded on the side of the road.
They open their homes and businesses for strangers in need.
They walk for miles down a highway with a gas can while people are stuck in traffic asking 'who needs gas.'
They fight a monster for hours on end, all the while knowing they have no home to go home to.
Almost 90 000 incredible people were evacuated from Fort McMurray in less than 24 hours. With NOT one story of violence, looting or price gouging against their fellow man.
Instead they shared what little they had, made sure everyone had a safe place to sleep or a shoulder to cry on.
As a country we have won many medals, trophies and honors the world over and it always gives us a sense of pride.
But this...this situation...there is no prize here. No medals coming for these people. The real heroes don't wear capes.
To the incredible people of Alberta and the entire country coast to coast, I Thank You. For reminding us all what it means to be an amazing and a true Canadian.
Dee Brun Gow
And - so many animals on this flight out of Fort Mac, they shared cabin space with humans.
Photo courtesy CBC
In 2011, our small community lost 1600 homes and 35,000 acres. At one point, we had four families staying with us, sitting outside on our back porch through a long night, watching the fire on the hill where there houses stood flaring even higher with dark smoke as another house went up in flames. We, too, were cheered by the way people in our community and around the country responded. In 2014, we were hit by another wildfire and last year brought two devastating floods. I don't know about the area hit in Canada, but in this low-income area, many people did not have homeowners' insurance. Mennonite and other groups have come every year to rebuild more of the houses lost. It gives you renewed faith in the human race, doesn't it?
ReplyDeleteOnce away from corporate interests and their puppets our governments, it is truly heartening to see and feel and hear the power of the human spirit, Linda. I feel quite teary reading all the wonderful stories.
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I agree wholeheartedly. Canada is a bright light that I wish we, your dim cousins to the south, would emulate.
ReplyDeleteI think other countries also have the capacity in the face of devastation to be kind without expectation of reward. It is astonishing to think of 90,000 people being evacuated in the midst of horror without a single death, I Just read another story about evacuees going back for their vehicles and found notes on them that they had been filled by strangers.
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A beautiful post and very much to be proud of. Sadly, I do not think that would happen here except in small pockets, if at all.
ReplyDeleteMaybe true horror brings out the best in people E? When everything is lost - as Kris sang "nothing left to lose" maybe there is only left to give? Maybe I'm being overly sentimental.
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I lived in Canada for four years and many times wish I had stayed. I still have my landed immigrant card and my social insurance card. I loved Halifax and the College of Art and Design. Not far from the border here in the US...
ReplyDeleteI know Sharyn with what looms before you also in the shape of Drumpf. But Canada did survive Harper who was the worst PM ever and only now are his shenanigans with offshore tax havens coming to light :(
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I'm impressed that there was no violence, looting or gouging. Most unusual. Truly the Canadians are very civilised people.
ReplyDeleteYes there didn't seem to be any louts, Nick, maybe Fort people were just there to work so no room for the malcontents.
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And you are very right to be proud too. It is also heartening to read https://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2016/05/09/notley-to-go-to-fort-mcmurray-today-to-start-work-on-getting-evacuees-back-home.html
ReplyDeleteYes, Ramana, even the opposition are praising her for her grace and dignity under such enormous pressure and stress. All pols could learn from her.
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Our thoughts and prayers are with all those brave souls who live in Alberta.
ReplyDeleteI know this is supposed to be a story of wonderful people doing good, and as you say "With NOT one story of violence, looting or price gouging against their fellow man..." But women? Well they're being given for free lap dances to all the brave Fort Mc heroes and evacuees who come to a lap dance/strip club.
ReplyDeleteFellow man. Right. Women are just pieces of meat that the honourable men pass around to other men. In this case the women will be free. Doesn't it all just bring a tear to your eye.
Free lap dances
“How could someone possibly consider a lap dance in the wake of a city-emptying disaster?” you might say, oblivious to the workings of the 20-something oil worker mind. Mere hours after the evacuation order, Edmonton’s Eden strip club, which is adjacent to one of the main evacuation routes, was offering free entry and a “complimentary lap dance” to evacuees — a $39 value. Manager Chris Round said quite a few have taken them up on the offer thus far. “They’re grateful to just get away from everything … and find someone who cares,” he said.
For any Fort Mac residents in Edmonton, Eden is offering free entry plus a complimentary lap dance when you come… https://t.co/xQDjw44IrB
— Eden (@edenedmonton) May 4, 2016
Here they are, lined up with all the other necessities of life. It's well known here the men come off the rigs into the city and drop $1,000 or more a night, sittinging in recliners, with the girls "laps" in their faces. Alberta. The land where men with a grade 10 education make $200,000 a year, while women with uni degrees make tips for how far they will let the men go.
http://news.nationalpost.com/news/canada/free-lap-dances-free-drugs-free-gorilla-scenes-from-a-province-refusing-to-let-evacuees-pay-for-things