BY: CHRISTIAN HOLMES (@HolmesyWrites)
Tick tock. Tick tock. The shit clock is ticking!
As you may already know (if you don’t live under a rock and don’t know who Kurt Cobain is), all colleges in Ontario will be going on strike as of Monday, October 16, if a deal is not reached by 11:59pm on Sunday, October 15. That means all classes will NOT be operating and faculty will begin marching in the beloved picket lines. Leaving many students, like myself, shit out of luck for class instruction. Of course, this strike may not even happen, but I wouldn’t be that optimistic about believing that. Both sides are far apart and from what I’ve been gathering, the two sides are not talking at the moment. So, to be blunt, don’t expect to be at school this week unless you’re planning on blasting Rage Against The Machine’s Take The Power Back and protesting the faculty strike.
So what’s the point of this post, you may ask? Good question! The point of this post is to find a silver-lining in this shit storm of a situation.
I know what you’re thinking… “Lard blue thunder jumping b’jesus b’y, this is absolute horseshit being served to us on a tin plater! They already make six figures a year! Why in the hell do they need to strike to get more money? Like a strike? C’mon man, really? It makes no sense! Stay together for the children! ” Believe me, I’m thinking the same way as most of you are. As the Newfie saying goes, “It sucks the big kaboonas!” I'm not thrilled that this strike is happening, especially in my first year, but it is what it is. What can you do? It’s the way she goes! Sometimes she goes. Sometimes she doesn’t. It’s the fucking way she goes! It’s out of my circle of control. So I just got to live with it. In a way, we all do.
Let’s be real, no matter how much we whine, cry, and bitch, nothing is going to change. Both sides are worried about that five letter word that keeps the read hot girls dancing on through the night, money. The union could care less about how this strike affects us, students, because at the of the day, most of us NEED this education, so it’s not like we’re going to leave and go elsewhere. Where else can we go? These colleges got the monopoly on post-secondary education. We can make petitions asking to get our money back and protest the strike, but why stress over something we can’t control as students? I doubt the colleges will actually give us back $30 a day per each day the strike lingers on. It would be nice, but I doubt it’ll actually happen.
Is it true that it’s hard to find a sunset in the eye of a storm? No! Really, it isn’t. Don’t get me wrong, this strike sucks for the students that are buried in debt to the point where they can’t cast a shadow. This strike sucks for everyone. All parties involved, But we, as students, still have a lot to be thankful for in our lives. And that’s a fact, Jack! A cliche as it sounds, the truth couldn’t be clearer.
For starters, we’re freaking lucky to live in a first world country like Canada where education is actually encouraged. There are some children in third world countries that are slaves to factory owners for most of their lives. They never get to go to school. We’re lucky we actually can attain an education. We’re lucky to live in a country where we don’t have to worry about rebels invading our cities. We’re lucky to live in a country where ninety percent of its citizens don’t have to worry where their next meal is coming from. We’re lucky to live in a country where we can practice free speech. We’re lucky to live in a country where we can practice our religious beliefs freely. We’re lucky to be in a situation where we don’t have to worry about what our government is going to do next to depopulate us. We’re lucky to live in a country that celebrates our differences rather than punishes them.
You see, we got a lot to be happy about. Yes, we all have our own individual struggles. We all have things that bring us down, but we also have things that bring us up. Everyone has something to be happy for. Everyone has something to latch onto, even if they think they don’t. The fact that we can wake up with a roof over our heads, have food on the table, and drink clean drinking water, is a blessing all in its own.
Over the past few days, I’ve have had some time to have a little self-reflection. Over the past month or so, I have had the opportunity to meet a lot of new people and learn about their backgrounds. Let me say some are better than others. Some had a good life. Some had a bad life. I find most stories of people overcoming their bad backgrounds to get to where they are today to be truly inspiring. The reason why I say that is because sometimes I have a habit of dwelling on all the cons in my life and in my past. In a way, I think we all have this problem. But when I hear of these background stories, I really learn to appreciate how good I have had (and still have) it in my life today.
I have the tendency to complain about this and about that. I complain about my disability and the ‘hardships’ in my life. But then I hear these stories of these kids having trouble growing up in abusive households and living with neglective parents. I hear these stories and think to myself how lucky I really was to come home after a long day of school to see my parents happy that I was home. I was lucky my weeknights consisted of watching sports and hanging out with my friends. Some kids weren’t as lucky. Some kids didn’t get the experience I got. And I think, each day, I learn how lucky I truly am.
So, when we all fret about this strike on Monday, I think instead of fretting, we should start thinking about all the things we have to be thankful for in our lives. That may differ for each person, but the nonetheless, we all have something to be thankful for.
After all, this strike is going to happen whether we like it or not. Of course, it sucks that it’s before mid-terms, but eh, what can you do?
And to be fair, in the end, it’s hard to be mad at the faculty for wanting to get as much money as they can. If we were in the same position, we’d probably do the same thing, and let’s not bullshit ourselves on that. In no way am I saying I agree with the strike, but why be angry over someone trying to do better for themselves?
So to finish this off. I know I may sound like a junkie preaching to the choir. A lot of kids are pissed off about this strike. College isn’t cheap and it’s not fair that us students have to suffer just because our faculty wants more change in their pockets. As easy as it is to get mad and cranky about this situation, I encourage you to take a look on the bright side. We all have lives worth living. We are blessed with so many things that we take for granted each day. So why should we let a strike be the end of the world for us? You gotta love what you got.
Sometimes we have to learn not to look back in anger. Yes, there may be no sanctuary. Maybe there’s no grace as well, but we must learn to look back in awe for all the blessing in our lives.
So Sally can wait. She knows it’s too late as she’s walking on by. Her soul slides away, but don’t look back in anger, but don’t look back in anger… I encourage you to say.
