Legislating Sin

It snowed today. It was pretty, but cold because I wasn't wearing socks. I went to go see the Departed. It was really gory but really good. I liked it a lot.

Some days I really struggle with this blog. Not only what to write, but should I write at all. What is the point? Seems like a bit of a vanity project. And at times I read it and it is so irritating. It is like when you hear the sound of your voice played back to you.

Today a lady I met at an event I was attending had some strange coincidences happen to her. She met not one but two people who lived in houses she used to live in. And they were all visitors from different cities, here for this one event. Strange. People kept saying she should buy a lottery ticket. What the hell does that mean? Just because of strange coincidences means you are lucky? Maybe people figure the stars are aligned and so you should test your luck to see what happens next.

I have had my own coincidences. Last week on the plane to Thunder Bay I sat beside an older lady took out her laptop and watched Star Trek: Deep Space Nine the whole flight. We didn't speak until the landing gear was about to come down and then somehow we found out we both lived in Kenya and climbed Mount Kenya. She did it about 20 years ago. Then at the wedding I just went to there was a guy I knew, only through friends who I hadn't really spoken to since high school. We did the whole... "so, what have you been up to" bit, and craziness occurs yet again... turns out he was living in Nairobi 2 years ago, same type of job as me. Loved it as much as I did. He said it doesn't get any easier as time goes on, the missing it. And then today at the event, someone came up to talk to me and I could have sworn his accent was familiar. I wanted to ask if he was from Kenya but I thought it would be rude to assume that one of the few African guys in Sudbury was from Kenya. Turns out he was. And another girl he brought over. They live in Kimani, which is not far from Nairobi. We spoke some Kiswahili and exchanged emails.

Talking to them brought something back that I don't remember when I talk to westerners who had similar experiences to me. Talking to them I felt something I forgot about. It is the guilt. Like that I should do something for them. Because I have so much here, so easily. And they are so excited to be in Canada, but I know where they come from and what it is like there and that they are going to live the rest of their lives there, struggling, even if they get a good job, and it is upsetting. And it reminded me how I felt almost every day when I was in Kenya. I did have the best moments of my life there. Every day was really great, unbelievable. But that feeling was there too. And that kind of weird helplessness. That no matter what you do, it will never be enough. It won't change things.

And then I read in the economist today that Katherine Harris, a US republican senate candidate told a crowd of Baptists that "If you're not electing Christians, then in essence you are going to legislate sin." Where the hell do these people come from and who the hell is so stupid to want to vote for someone who spews that kind of crap!?? I just don't get it.