Seeing as this is my first journal entry, I suppose it would be appropriate to give a brief run-down on what my current situation is. And I mean brief. So, basically, I moved to British Columbia, from my home province of Québec, on May 30th, 2001. I had every intention of succeeding here in every way that I couldn't seem to back in La Belle Province. So far, however, that doesn't seem to have happened. Some would, and do, say that it's my fault for not putting in as big an effort as I should be putting in. Others, including myself, say that it's my streak of bad luck surfacing 3000 kilometres across the country. So, where I stand now is that I'm looking for a job. I'm at the starting gate, waiting for the race to begin, but nobody will blow the whistle. That previous sentence was a pretty good analogy for how I'm feeling, actually.
So, in looking for work, I've been cycling all over where I currently live, Port Moody, and dropping off resumés.
Oh, just as a side note, I used to live in the most delightful place in Coquitlam, but some fucker decided to burn it down. Since moving to this little hole in the wall in Port Moody, I've lost my cat and what remaining happiness I had.
Anyway, so I've been dropping off resumés, but nobody has been calling me for an interview for a while. So, I start getting pissed off, and I step up the drop-offs and also the smiley faces that I give the managers when I hand them my paper. As a result, things have been happening, albeit at the pace of a guy with back problems making love. I've had two interviews in the past month.
The first one was for a certain super grocery store several kilometres off from where I live. The job was working in the seafood department, selling...well...seafood. The thing that caused a lot of people to shy away from the job, however, is that the description also called for them to, on occasion, kill fish, crabs and lobsters. I was told that it's not so bad, though. They don't scream or anything. You just smash their brains to mush with a wooden club, then slice them open and pull out their guts. Appetizing, eh? Well, so I went for the interview, and the lady there asked if I minded killing fish. I said no, so she told me that I got the job. Oh, and this other guy got a job in the same place along with me.
So, I was happy, despite the job type, and I was told to come on the coming Friday. So, on Friday, I got dressed up, showered, shaved, and came into my supposed new job. There, the woman met me and told me that she forgot to send in my forms to the head office, so I couldn't start yet. I was to return home and wait for a phone call from her.
So, I did. I waited for a week, then I finally got fed up and called her back. She told me, very apologetically, that she didn't realize when she hired me and the other bloke that her manager had already hired two people, so she couldn't get my forms approved and I couldn't start work yet. She told me that me and the other guy were on the "waiting list."
So, needless to say that, after waiting and waiting and thinking that I had finally got something, I was very upset to hear that I hadn't. However, my resolve was not broken, and I continued to plod along and now, lo and behold, I have another job interview at another grocery store right across the street from the other one. The interview is on Thursday, so wish me luck. The job would me working in the deli. Still meat, but at least I won't have to kill the animals this time.
So, if this thing comes through, I'll be real happy and the race for me will finally begin. The race to pay off all my debts and start saving money so I can afford to finally get my driver's license, a car, and move into my own flat somewhere. And, following that, maybe I'll take a trip somewhere. After all, I could use a vacation. But, of course, none of this applies if I don't get the job.
So, that's nearly it, I just wanted to make a comment to all of you Americans out there about something that you do that pisses me off just a tad. American industries, notably the sports and entertainment industry, have a very maddening habit of referring to Canada as if it were without any divisions for provinces. Granted, a lot of Americans still think all Canadians live in igloos and eat blubber, but I'd like to think that it's only those who live in the south and have one tooth. To illustrate my point, I'd like to turn your attention to WWF RAW last night. Rob Van Dam was announced as being from "Battle Creek, Michigan", Bossman was announced as being from "Cobb County, Georgia", The Hardy Boyz are announced as being from "Cameron, North Carolina"...
But Trish Stratus is announced as being from..."Toronto, Canada".
Now, is it my imagination, or do most Canadians know that the USA is composed of States? So, if I went up to the average Canadian and asked them, "Where is Los Angeles?" They would answer me something like, "It's in California." And if I asked the average Canadian to name a city in Florida, they might say, "Miami" or "Orlando" or maybe even "Palm Beach". So, we Canadians are aware of how the United States is shaped and formed. So, let me ask you Americans: Are most of you so fucking ignorant of the world around you that you don't know that Canada, a country right the hell above you, is composed of provinces? I mean, it wouldn't be so bad, if Canada was equally ignorant of the United States and its states, but most of you damn Americans see fit to make sure that every country in the world is aware of how many states you have, but yet most of you can't even name one province in Canada.
And to demonstrate how pompous and stupid most Americans really are, let me state another instance of it. Wrestlemania XIII recently took place. It was in Toronto. Now, as even the dumbest American knows, Toronto is in Canada. However, Toronto is located in the province of Ontario. So, with the event located in Canada, and with most of the audience being Canadian, do you think that they would change their announcement policies for that night?
No, not at all. Edge, a wrestler from Toronto was still announced as being from "Toronto, Canada." So, I suppose this was done for all the dumb Americans who were watching, and who, if he was announced as being from "Toronto, Ontario" would turn to each other and ask, "Where's that?"
So, I ask not for a complete change, because most Americans, despite its usefulness, will probably never learn much about Canada. I mean, why bother, right? You're Americans and you're invincible. Oh...wait, that's right...you're not.
No...I ask for a compromise. When announcing Canadian wrestlers, Canadian athletes, or any Canadian celebrity, say that they are from, "City, Province, Canada". I mean, I wouldn't be too annoyed if the announced said, "From Toronto, Ontario, Canada..." I mean, it's kind of long, but at least you're educating the Americans a bit. It would be nice if the average American at least knew a little bit about Canada.
Okay...let me state, for the record, that the above generalization does not apply to all Americans. That's why I use the adjective "most" or "average". I use "average" because it's a plain fact that most Americans can't name even three of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. Most Americans don't know what the capital of Canada is. Most Americans don't know what year Canada became a country. Now, I have quite a few American friends and, bless their hearts, they all exhibit at least one American stereotype in regards to Canada. It's really not their fault, though, because the American school system teachs most American children little or nothing about Canada or Mexico, and besides that, what need have they to learn about Canada? It just irks me, though, that the world is force-fed American history, yet most Americans don't know much about Canada, a country right above them. I'm sorry if I offended any Americans out there, and I'll readily state that most Canadians don't know everything about Canada either, just like most Americans don't know everything about the USA. They did a poll recently that showed that only 44% of Canadians can name the first Prime Minister of Canada, yet I'm sure that 90%+ of Americans can name their first President. So, what you Americans lack in foreign knowledge, you make up for in domestic knowledge. So, I salute your patriotism.
Anyway, that's about it. It's time for a few recommendations:
I'd urge all of you to go out and rent "Benny and Joon" on DVD. The movie is just incredible, if you like a good, warm romance mixed in to some strange circumstances. "What's eating Gilbert Grape" is another awesome movie, also featuring Johnny Depp, but I don't know if it was ever put on DVD. Both movies are fairly old, but if you can find them, you should rent them. Any movie with Johnny Depp, actually, is pretty good. I wasn't a big fan of "Sleepy Hollow", though, because I'm so sick of Christina Ricci and her breasts.
For music, I'd recommend three songs by Canadian artists: "Too Bad" and "How you remind me" by Nickelback, and "Black black heart" by David Usher. All three songs really move me, and I could listen to them repeatedly.