March 10, 2025Monday, March 10, 2025

Just a thought… It’s not about being woke; it’s about being human, about treating others with dignity and respect. [Jameela Jamil]

I had an entirely different blog written for today, but after a little video I posted got a ton of reactions, it seemed important to tell another side of what’s happening between Canada and the US, from our own personal perspective. Can you take one more? Then come on along!

During our leisurely six-day drive up along the US coast from California’s Coachella Valley to Port Angeles, WA where we crossed back into Canada, I saw a handful of u-know-who’s rear window or bumper stickers, and only one rural house whose entire front fence was festooned with a large banner with its name on it. Keep in mind that overall, California, Oregon and Washington State are all considered blue, but have their large pockets of MAGA. Heck, even Canada does. So no one is immune.

It wasn’t until we arrived Thursday evening in Port Angeles to stay overnight until the next day’s ferry home that it dawned on me: in all of those days on the road, I had seen not ONE Canadian, or BC license plate. We were the outliers; anyone noticing us would have inferred that we were on our way home, which we were. Here’s our route, marked out in blue.

Upon arriving on the sunny Canadian side in downtown Victoria, I did what I said I would do: I kissed the ground. No, I didn’t stop to think that it was conveniently close to the curb for a dog; I didn’t care. And I’ll show you that short video in a moment. (Oh and boy, the trolls on my FB page said their dog had just pooped there. I remarked that that was likely why it tasted like kissing THEM. I couldn’t resist.)

But – back to being an adult – we learned that earlier on that same day, the ferry we had ridden had brought the mayor of Port Angeles over to meet with Victoria’s mayor. The leader of the US city of 20,000 said she was carrying a message of friendship and a border mayor alliance, apologizing on behalf of her citizens for the great insult that has been flung at Canadians in general.

Many people are hurting and not in ways anyone in DC would care about, since president Muskkk said that empathy is humanity’s greatest downfall. The people in border towns and cities who reaped the benefits of Canadians’ proximity are starting to feel the very real results of careless and malicious decrees. And that is spreading (finally – Reagan’s promised trickle-down economy, but not in a good way) to those who happily and gratefully welcomed Canadian visitors year round.

Further south in Florida’s Broward county, the second-most populous county in the state behind Miami-Dade, nearly 22,000 homes are on the market today, nearly double the number from one year ago. What percentage of those have Canadian owners, I can’t tell you. But the signs are right there, and they say FOR SALE.

See, that’s the thing about us. As someone said, we won’t tell you who we are, but we know who we are NOT. The whole “elbows up / les coudes levés” movement says it all. And while tRump continues to turn tariffs on and off like grandpa with the Clapper on his bedside lamp, most of us are sticking to our decisions.

My heart goes out to everyone who is hurting (there’s that darned empathy again). I don’t know how many people feeling this pain voted for the orange one or didn’t bother voting at all, but I did meet a woman Wednesday in the hospitality industry in Washington State who had not heard about a trade war. She came to the US from Hungary when she was a child and is living in fear that at 52, she might be his next target. I felt awful telling her about it in the vaguest terms (and sure didn’t mention that it’s going to affect her hotel bookings soon, if it hasn’t already) but was in awe of her ability to stay in a bubble, because the news “stresses” her.

We wish we could, but that’s not who we are, or where we need to be in this moment in Canadian history. It’s not about hating all Americans, it’s loving Canada. Their government has forced us to take a stand, and whether it’s by keeping our money at home by staying here, or by carefully reading labels in stores and curbing our online purchases from the US, we’re doing what we can to stand on guard for ourselves. The rest of the world is seeing what we’re doing and some are even following our lead.

Who knew that 2025 would be the year that Canadians would unite (well, most of us) in solidarity, supporting each other without judgment, with compassion and with kindness? Where “woke!” would be not a diss, but a compliment, to describe a good-hearted person who cares for others, and not just themselves?

We know now. And we’ll keep this feeling, I hope, for a good long time. It would be just like tRump to pull the tariffs and try to lull us back into the division that had settled upon our complacent country, in hopes that an ally to his plans gets elected here. But we won’t be fooled. Unlike some voters to the south of us, we’re learning not to repeat a fatal mistake. Elbows Up and Les Coudes Levés, my friend.

And now, as promised, near the BC Legislature and its newly-hung gigantic Canadian flag, here’s that super short homecoming video. Enjoy – I sure did!