Tuesday, August 30, 2005
Why do some people drive Fords over Volvos? Why do some people drive trucks instead of compacts? Why do some people honk, wave or otherwise express support while we're picketing and others don't?
Yesterday I stood at the Armdale Rotary for four hours (6:30 am to 10:30 am) with three other people. We were arranged in such a pattern that there wasn't much time for social interaction with each other, in addition to that, I was picketing with people I really didn't know very well so it made me more than a little introverted. Needless to say I had a lot of time to stand on my patch of grass and deliberate on why some people had no problems displaying support, while others just drove by and ignored us.
I tried to get a sense of the demographic, I tried to figure out whether the CBC only appealed to certain group of people. I wondered whether I was seeing variations of the same face or if I was just excluding evidence that didn't fit. It was ridiculous to believe that one four hour sampling of commuter traffic would give me any idea as to who is listening to the CBC and who it fails to serve. That's a task that can make you go batty when you're not truly awake, and your results aren't going to be any more accurate than a Decima survey. I suppose you can make the argument that the focus has to be on the fact that there is support, there are people collecting signatures and campaigning to bring the locked out workers back to work at the CBC.
We will be back to work, I'm sure of that. I'm not sure when and I'm not sure if it will be all of us, but eventually the programs we work on will be back on the air. I didn't quit a job with better pay and better security so I could walk a picket line, but I will walk it until those locks are changed again.
I'm not arrogant enough to believe that I am anything more than a cog, a peon if you will, but when we get back to work that's when both sides (management and members of the CMG) have to start thinking about why one woman on the street said "I have washed my hands of the CBC" and why others stare straight ahead when they see our signs.
Maybe speculating about why some people are "not sure public broadcasting is an entirely good thing" (Letters to the Editor, Halifax Daily News, Aug 29 2005) and working on a solution to remedy that apathy is a task that only those with the luxury of job security can tackle (I really don't mean that facetiously).
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Palindromes was in no way the feel-good movie of the year. The first half of the film drained me of any blue light that I might have possessed at one time. Someone stole away my grey matter and replaced it with cotton, drained my heart and filled it with corny syrup. I wanted to fall over or at least slump in my seat. I am always reluctant to characterize a movie or any part of a movie as offensive and I think calling any part of Palindromes offensive undercuts it significantly. Watching the first half of 'Palindromes' made me felt condemned.
Any light drained away was restored in the second half. I don't know if the sentiment 'we're all screwed' holds any optimism for anyone else, but it does for me.
I guess 'no one has it easy' is a little more palatable to me than 'it'll get better' regardless of whether it's true.
Yesterday I stood at the Armdale Rotary for four hours (6:30 am to 10:30 am) with three other people. We were arranged in such a pattern that there wasn't much time for social interaction with each other, in addition to that, I was picketing with people I really didn't know very well so it made me more than a little introverted. Needless to say I had a lot of time to stand on my patch of grass and deliberate on why some people had no problems displaying support, while others just drove by and ignored us.
I tried to get a sense of the demographic, I tried to figure out whether the CBC only appealed to certain group of people. I wondered whether I was seeing variations of the same face or if I was just excluding evidence that didn't fit. It was ridiculous to believe that one four hour sampling of commuter traffic would give me any idea as to who is listening to the CBC and who it fails to serve. That's a task that can make you go batty when you're not truly awake, and your results aren't going to be any more accurate than a Decima survey. I suppose you can make the argument that the focus has to be on the fact that there is support, there are people collecting signatures and campaigning to bring the locked out workers back to work at the CBC.
We will be back to work, I'm sure of that. I'm not sure when and I'm not sure if it will be all of us, but eventually the programs we work on will be back on the air. I didn't quit a job with better pay and better security so I could walk a picket line, but I will walk it until those locks are changed again.
I'm not arrogant enough to believe that I am anything more than a cog, a peon if you will, but when we get back to work that's when both sides (management and members of the CMG) have to start thinking about why one woman on the street said "I have washed my hands of the CBC" and why others stare straight ahead when they see our signs.
Maybe speculating about why some people are "not sure public broadcasting is an entirely good thing" (Letters to the Editor, Halifax Daily News, Aug 29 2005) and working on a solution to remedy that apathy is a task that only those with the luxury of job security can tackle (I really don't mean that facetiously).
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Palindromes was in no way the feel-good movie of the year. The first half of the film drained me of any blue light that I might have possessed at one time. Someone stole away my grey matter and replaced it with cotton, drained my heart and filled it with corny syrup. I wanted to fall over or at least slump in my seat. I am always reluctant to characterize a movie or any part of a movie as offensive and I think calling any part of Palindromes offensive undercuts it significantly. Watching the first half of 'Palindromes' made me felt condemned.
Any light drained away was restored in the second half. I don't know if the sentiment 'we're all screwed' holds any optimism for anyone else, but it does for me.
I guess 'no one has it easy' is a little more palatable to me than 'it'll get better' regardless of whether it's true.
# posted by Die Brucke @ 11:39 AM 
