January 12, 2006
Speeding ticket
So, I got a speeding ticket in Owen Sound on the weekend ... we had just left Tim Horton's and I was distracted by the caffeinated goodness, or something. The cop was really pleasant and even though I was going 73 in a 50 zone he wrote the ticket out for 60kph so I wouldn't get hit with the large fine. But, he wrote completely the wrong date on the ticket. He has the offence as occurring on November 26, 2005 rather than January 7, 2006. I was at a hockey game with my brother on that date in November and have the pictures to prove it. I'm thinking I could beat this rap because of the date mix up but do I really want to go to court in Owen Sound to get out of a $40 fine? Not to mention that I did commit the crime and the cop was very good about it. Dilemma.
Posted by John at 10:09 AM | Comments (9) | TrackBack
November 13, 2005
Ignorant Consumer
I've been putting off writing this blog entry (or any entry in this category) because as someone who gleefully participates in the north american consumer society I'm as guilty as anyone else. By actually committing to text that I understand something of the evils which are buried in the basement of this comfortable life I live, it becomes more difficult to blithely go on as if they didn't exist.
The buried evils I'm alluding to are the mistreatment of people or the environment in which companies engage in to provide us with some object or service which, they hope, we can't live without. In their zeal to garner as large profits as they can for themselves and their shareholders or to expand as fast as they can ahead of their rivals or to offer the lowest possible prices, these businesses will stoop to anything. Hiding under these shrouds they are able to justify any atrocity.
I've been reading No Logo, the book by Naomi Klein which documents the soulless business practices of some of North America's largest companies. She names names; I won't. This book has caused me to really think about how the clothes I wear come to me, who made my shoes, where the food I eat comes from and who supplies the coffee I drink.
My dilemma now becomes: what do I do about it? I could simply boycott the companies she mentions and continue on as before but wearing a different brand of shoe or shopping in a different store; feeling all smug and self righteous that I'm saving the planet and doing my bit for human rights. By posting this I've made it impossible to do nothing, that's for sure.
The difficulty is that the proper approach is much more time consuming. It requires that I take the time to dig in the basement of my world and be sure that there aren't bodies buried there. If I choose to frequent one coffeeshop chain over another I really should make an educated choice. I shouldn't let promotions or fads make the decision for me. If I choose one brand of X over another, the ethics of the company should play as much a part in my decision as the list of features or the price.
It has taken a long time to take this step; now comes the hard part: actually doing something about it. They do say that admitting the problem exists is the first necessary step to a solution.
My name is John an I am an Ignorant Consumer.
Posted by John at 04:42 PM | Comments (6) | TrackBack