Just Sayin

Actually it goes back to the 1960’s when America was very unpopular in Europe because of the Vietnam War. In 1969 I took the summer to hitchhike across Western Europe and visited 13 countries in 4 months. That summer there were many Canadians and Americans like myself, mostly studying in university and just getting in a summer of fun. Canada had a brand new flag (the red maple leaf) then and it stood out smartly on my backpack. Many Americans that summer, on discovering they couldn’t get a ride sporting the Stars and Stripes, traded their flag in for the Canadian one. I would laugh at these ersatz Canadians with their Brooklyn, Boston or Southern accents. But to the Europeans, it worked mostly as they couldn’t distinguish one English accent from another.

It goes a long way being Canadian with the older generation of Dutch. Not sure if it would cut it today since memories of WWII are rapidly fading. Sometime around 35 years ago I was heading out to the airport at Amsterdam on a Sunday morning to fly back to Canada and was the only person on the airport shuttle. So I sat up beside the driver. When I told him I was flying home to Canada, did he ever get enthusiastic, telling me of how the Canadians had liberated his town, etc. I didn’t mention I had been having sex with one of his fellow citizens the night before. The war hadn’t come up in our conversations but the guy was at least half the age of the bus driver.

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You can listen to him read it here:
 
https://www.newyorker.com/podcast/the-authors-voice/douglas-stuart-reads-the-englishman?irclickid=wM-0I9RR1xyOT2DwUx0Mo36gUkiSsZw1T1hARQ0&irgwc=1&source=affiliate_impactpmx_12f6tote_desktop_adgoal%20GmbH&utm_source=impact-affiliate&utm_medium=123201&utm_campaign=impact&utm_content=Online%20Tracking%20Link&utm_brand=tny
 
and you can read an interview with him about the story here:
https://www.newyorker.com/books/this-week-in-fiction/douglas-stuart-09-14-20?irclickid=wM-0I9RR1xyOT2DwUx0Mo36gUkiSsZzZT1hARQ0&irgwc=1&source=affiliate_impactpmx_12f6tote_desktop_adgoal%20GmbH&utm_source=impact-affiliate&utm_medium=123201&utm_campaign=impact&utm_content=Online%20Tracking%20Link&utm_brand=tny

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Thanks for canvassing this important issue, @Oliver, no one is unaffected by the pandemic and for the most part people's reactions have been understandable. I exclude those who have sought to deny it, who claim to have greater insight than the medical experts and who seem to regard the economy as being more important than our lives.
 
I too am of a certain age, although not as certain as some other forum members. I am lucky to live in a country that has largely been spared the harsher effects of the pandemic, and the restrictions I've had to endure have not been particularly burdensome. I have managed the last six months reasonably well and coped with the spending most of my time inside my house. The internet has made it easier, as it brings so many things into my bubble, this forum not the least of them, as has the 'serious' network of our public broadcaster. There are things I cannot do, but I didn't feel constrained by it. That said, I am aware that I won't live forever, so the time I have to do things isn't unlimited.
 
Even now, as I think about travel, i don't feel resentment at those or any other limitations, although I have the beginnings of a degree of frustration. I can travel to most of the country but not overseas, and I am looking at places around Australia with new eyes. Last night in a current affairs piece about the impact of the pandemic restriction on various communities around the country they covered a flash hotel that was at 10 to 20% occupancy and rather than just think 'That's interesting' I immediately thought about a short break there. (No, I haven't booked. Yet.) The possibility of travel to New Zealand seems to be tantalisingly close, and I'll be on a plane there pretty soon after it becomes possible.
 
I recognise that if our restrictions were harsher I'd be more likely to feel oppressed by them and perhaps resentful, so I'm in no position to criticise others who are. Are they being selfish? Maybe, but to me wishing restrictions away is natural, it's not really being selfish unless you convert your frustrations into flouting the restrictions. For now, I'm content to count my blessings, plan on taking up opportunities as they arise and hoping for there to be more of them. And even to dare to hope that Palm Springs 2021 will be a thing, and one that I can travel for!

Blondish, Tatted, In A Sexy Singlet, Selfie! ? ??

for me it's the resentment--those of us of a certain age are aware we have only so many good years left, and to have one, or maybe two, taken away from us is distressing; but then, this is where the discussion of resilience comes in.

there is something about Matthew Camp!

there is something about Matthew Camp!

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