A friend of mine went to Spring training baseball in Florida this year . He is Blue Jay fan, so he went to watch them get ready for their new season of baseball. He spent about two weeks there. He did not get a car, but depended on public transit. One evening, he missed the last bus to get back to his hotel. He could have walked to the hotel, but he did not know the area well, and he thought it might take an hour. He went over to the convenience store to ask about the bus, and other transportation. One of the people in the store asked him if he was asking for someone to drive him to his hotel, and a woman in the store said to him , “ I would drive you, but I did not bring my gun .”
This story tells me that I do not know how the world works. This short story above makes me realize that in any given situation, I do not know what is going on. Why does this woman need a gun ? Does everyone carry a weapon in that community ? Is that area of the United States so dangerous that one must always think of carrying a gun ? And is there that much fear about strangers or about family, that this is the reaction of a person to someone who is asking for a ride ? The world is a crazy place I guess, or is this the new normal ?
But the community in central Florida, might think that carrying a loaded gun is just normal. Is 33,000 gun deaths a year in America normal ? Is the first reaction to a fearful situation to pull a gun, normal ? Gun deaths in America are so normal that they are very seldom reported on except if it considered to be a mass killing . Three people here, and four children there is not news anymore .
What do I take as normal in my home community here in Elmira that should be changed ? In Canada, there is a large number of single women with children , who live under that poverty line. Why is this accepted as part of our society? Why are people who struggle with addiction to drugs sent to jail, when they suffering from an illness ? What is now taken as normal in Elmira ?
We take as normal, that Canada sells arms to countries that deny their citizens basic human rights? We sell over 140 million dollars worth of arms to Saudi Arabia, and almost ask no questions ? We provide weapons and resources to countries at war as well. I think that Canada is about human rights and an end to all wars. We seem to be making money on weapons. Is this is what Canada should be all about ? Should we not invest money in industries that make the world a better place ? I might be naive, but war and war making should never be considered normal.
If I had been in Florida, and had a woman say that to me about her gun, what should I have said, because that should not be normal part of life ? How do engage with each other about difficult conversations around gun control, selling of weapons and poverty. These issues can never become just normal . Never.
Fred Redekop
Ponder Anew 