|
|
The Wallet Saga, Part Deux
September 24, 2003, 9:25 p.m. The continuation of the wallet saga: I called my credit union this morning, got them to send me a new ATM card (after cancelling it the night before), then went to uni. On the bus in, a call from mum: the security office has your wallet. Unfortunately, they don’t have your money. So I collected it, and now have, safely back in my possession, my squished coin from Science World Vancouver. Yay! Today was the first day of voting for the SRC elections, and a bunch of other crap. I ran into my Evil Twin, and said hello and explained who I was and how I knew him and that we had the same birthday – but he didn’t remember me. Oh well. Then he asked me if I’d voted, and I said yes, and then he asked if I’d voted for him, and I said no. Technically, I didn’t lie. I have voted – I’ve voted in federal and state elections. And I haven’t ever voted for him : ) Anyway, getting in and out of Fisher has become impossible. Eledhwen and I had discussed the options for getting rid of electioneers: tell them you’ve already voted, tell them to fuck off (“I want to tell them to fuck off, I really do, but they look at me with their eager faces, and I just can’t help feeling sorry for them. They’re so deluded!”), pretend like you’re talking on your phone. Walking out of it today, she and I hit on a great idea. “Pretend like we’re deep in conversation!” she said as we could see them closing in. So I put my arm round her shoulder and began counselling her to calm down, breathe deeply. She began to talk incoherently and hide her fits of laughter as racking sobs. We made a bee line for the outskirts of the crowd and just managed to hold in our giggles until we escaped. Even if they figured we were faking, they would’ve been too amazed at our desperation to escape them to approach us. A few years ago, a Christian missionary and his two sons were burnt alive in their car in India. Just a few days ago, the ‘ringleader’ of the Hindu fundamentalists who committed the murder was sentenced to death. The victims’ family have expressed dismay at the sentence – they don’t want anyone to be killed on their behalf. My mother, listening to this report, was disparaging of their reaction. She thinks the guy who killed them deserves to die. Ugh. I can’t stand the death penalty. No one deserves to die. I don’t think we have the right to kill people who don’t want to die, no matter what they’ve done. I believe this man should be removed from society – for his punishment and for our protection – but there are too many problems with the death penalty for me to ever approve of it. Firstly, there’s the problem with being certain you’re executing a guilty person. Secondly, I believe there’s always hope for reformation. Perhaps that’s a little too optimistic, but would we prefer to have someone who has ‘repented’ or a dead body? I don’t think we should be allowed to take away the possibility of a criminal’s reformation. Anyway. Enough soap-boxing. I have a kitchen to clean.
|