The Future

That's what the good people at Perception Labratories thinks I'll look like as an old man. Handsome dodger isn't he. Try it for yourself here.

Help Save Smiths Falls!

I just discovered there is an on-line petition to keep the Hershey's Plant from moving to Mexico. Go sign it:

http://www.petitiononline.com/hershsf/petition.html

I Shut Herseys Down

Recently Hersheys the chocolate maker announced that they will be shutting down their Canadian Plant and moving it to Mexico to lower their costs. The plant is located in Smiths Falls, Ontario, my hometown. I grew up a mere two blocks away from the plant and every morning would awaken to the delightful smell of fresh chocolate that spread throughout our neighborhood. That was until the sewage treatment plant was built downwind of us. Then there was a weird cocoa poop smell. We were never sure if it ruined chocolate for us, or increased our love of feces.

Smiths Falls doesn’t have a lot of industry. The biggest employer was the Rideau Regional Centre, a long-term hospital for mentally handicapped people that were too sick or dangerous to themselves and others to live outside the centre. That hospital employed 800 people and is in the process of closing its doors too. Hersheys employees 500 people and is one of the very few tourist attractions in Smiths Falls, after all no one wants to visit a mentally handicapped hospital or it’s gift store, “I visited the Rideau Regional Centre and all I got was this lousy Congenital Minamata”

So we look at the numbers, 1,300 people out of work, plus the dairy farmers that provide the 39 million liters of milk each year to Hersheys and all the tourism spots and restaurant workers and associated businesses that will close in a town of only 9,000 people. If we estimate the numbers we come out with the percentage of the population in Smiths Falls unemployed by these two closures being somewhere around… fucked%. That’s right fucked%. A small town like this can’t survive such a hit.

Over the years I’ve known lots of people who worked at the Hersheys, it was a mainstay of high school students in the summer. Living just down the street I used to look at the door at midnight when the night shift was over and get caught up with my buddy Gord as he biked home after a long day. Friends, family and their family and friends have all worked there. There are quite a few couples and entire broods that depend on that plant to put more than just peanut butter cups on the table.

I have to blame myself for it though. The Hershey plant has always given free chocolate bars when you either took the self guided tour or went into the warehouse store and bought something. My friends and I would get on our bikes and head over to buy a Nut Milk Bar, the cheapest thing they had at the time at $0.45 and come out with three full sized free chocolate bars. That’s the only explanation I have for them needing to move the plant to Mexico to save money. I and my friends triple handedly broke Hersheys twenty years ago and they never recovered. I am dreadfully sorry to all the workers, farmers, truck drivers and tourism businesses whose livelihood I have unwittingly destroyed.

But on a serious note I hear a lot of people saying they will boycott Hersheys as a result of the closure. Please don’t do this, at least not right now. If they stop selling the chocolate now, they will lay off workers prior to shutting down the factory, your well-intentioned actions will do more harm than good for the workers there. They’ll need ever hour they can get while the place is open. The plant is set to close sometime in 2008, so please keep buying the product until then. Then move to Cadbury’s, at least they still have a plant in Canada.

Stranger, Why Do You Hate Me?

Last week I was on the subway homeward bound from the misery machine (my cute pet name for the office). I was laughing with my co-worker about something when a grimy man walked by, looked me in the eye and loudly and bitterly imitated my laugh.

Now, I don’t know about you, but I have always felt that mocking someone’s laugh is up there with the most hurtful things you can tease someone for. Laughter is joy escaping your body involuntarily, and then to have someone walk up to you and essentially say, “You sound retarded,” is a pretty hurtful thing.

I turned to my co-worker and said, “That was weird,” and continued talking. A few stops later we were talking about our weekend plans. I mentioned how my wife and I would be going futon shopping. The grimy man passed by again this time yelling at me, “Yeah right! Whatever!”

Now it would be a different story if he had been yelling at other people. I would then feel like part of a social clique. When you are the only one pointed out you feel more like a loser than anything else.

I answered him by saying, “See if you get to sleep over on my new futon. The couch is the best you’ll get!”

I started to get paranoid, why did this man hate me so much? Do I remind him of someone? Perhaps when I was in seventh grade he was the kid I laughed at when I heard over kids had put chocolate covered ex-lax in his desk and he gobbled it up. Maybe he was just around the corner and heard me laughing about it and has held a grudge all these years until it all came spilling out now during a chance meeting on the TTC.

Just before our stop he once again passed by and made a noise “blah-blagh-blah!” The man hated me so much he couldn’t find words to express himself.

We got off the subway to change subway lines and he was walking just ahead of us. He stopped a small Asian woman, pointed me out and said something more about me. I have no idea if the woman agreed with him or not. I was more concerned that he was recruiting people into his I Hate Jason Club.

My co-worker ever helpful suggested it might be my red coat, “He may be half bull or something.”

Subway Offenders

There are many offensive things people do on the subway. This is only a partial list of some of the worst of those offenses and the punishment recommended for those that commit them.

The Pole Leaner

The Offense
Leaning against the pole with entire body, thus preventing anyone else from grabbing hold. The victims of this crime can usually be found rolling around the train like marbles as a result of not being able to brace themselves.

The Punishment
The Leaner is taped with industrial strength duct tape to the pole and every person on the subway gets to touch them.


The Seat Hog
The Offense
The Seat Hog feels the need to sit in the aisle seat regardless of it the window seat is empty. The worst offenders when asked to move merely twist in their seats 45 degrees forcing you to squeeze by them.

The Punishment
The Seat Hog is forced to sit in their aisle seat while one hundred large hairy men with only their underwear squeezes by them. The temperature is increased one-quarter a degree with each man, thus ensuring the last few will be good and sweaty.


The Stinky Guy
The Offense
For whatever reason this guy feels deodorant or cleaning one’s self to be a sin. He of course will sit next to you.

The Punishment
High powered fire hoses and being force fed bars of Dove Soap.


The Stand In
The Offense
This cheery little fellow stands obviously in the doorway of the subway and doesn’t move out of the way at any of the stops. Others are then forced to either squeeze by him or just plain miss their stop

The Punishment
If he likes standing in the doorway so much, perhaps he’d like to ride on the outside of the train. He will be strapped to the outside of the sliding doors and face the terror that is the subway tunnel walls two inches from his face and the train screams through them.


Loudy
The Offence
Loudy likes music, Loudy likes music loud. Everyone else on the train is forced to listen to Loudy’s music for the duration of the trip. In extreme cases Loudy will sing along.

The Punishment
Loudy is placed in a sound proof chamber and has to listen to Cameo’s “Word Up” until the CD deteriorates in the player or offenders ears retract into his head.


The Fingernail Clipper
The Offense
Apparently this offender is so busy that he must use his commute time for personal grooming. He clips his nails on the subway producing that sickening snap noise and small pieces of his own body to go flying across the train, bouncing off other’s foreheads, into their drinks and eyes.

The Punishment
First the offender is dipped in a large vat of crazy glue and then is transferred to a large washbasin filled with other people’s toe and fingernail clippings and shaken for an hour.


The Giant Bagger
The Offense
This Sheba-like offender feels that there is no place like home, unless you are carrying every belonging you own on your back. His huge bag knocks others over like wobbly pins in a bowling alley. Due to the mass of the bag this fellow doesn’t even notice the chaos he creates in his wake.

The Punishment
He may only ride the subway if he is concealed in the giant bag himself.


The Sleeper
The Offense
The Sleeper is not only a dozy fellow, but he has the habit of letting his head flop down upon other unsuspecting passengers. He may wake up and wipe the drool off his chin, but you know he’ll be back on your shoulder again within five minutes.

The Punishment
The Sleeper is transported from the train without being awakened to the local zoo and placed gently in the loin’s den.

Woman On The Subway This Morning

Dear Woman On The Subway This Morning,

I’d like to apologize for my blatant lie to you this morning. You may recall that before you sat next to me you picked up a sheet of paper from the seat and asked, “Is This Yours?” I answered that it was not. This was a lie. The sheet of paper in question was a promotional wrap around cover for the Toronto Star, that announced in bold letters that the paper was complimentary as a gift from some company or other that was advertising their wares on the wrap around cover. I of course was reading the very paper this sheet was wrapped around when you asked me this question.

Firstly, I should state that it was not a complete lie. I did not purchase nor did I pick up that paper from a stand, it was on the seat before I got on the subway. Technically it is not my newspaper, however as I understand it possession is nine-tenths of the law. Which I suppose would mean it was my sheet of paper.

So now that I have apologized, and I do hope you forgive me for my grave indiscretion, I do have some explanations as to why I lied, which I have listed here:

a) The way you threateningly waved the sheet of paper around when you asked if it was mine took me off guard. I felt a little bit as though I was back in grade school and the schoolmarm had confiscated my button of with the picture of pop star tiffany with no top on. Perhaps the flashback to this time triggered something deep within and I was afraid you would call my parents.

b) I was ashamed that I had to take a “complimentary paper” rather than shelling out the $1.25 for the regular paper. What would you think of me if you knew I was too cheap to purchase the newspaper?

c) I was already embarrassed I had laughed so hard at the Marmaduke comic. I mean really, when will that dog learn he’s not supposed to be on the couch?

As you can see all are very valid reasons for my covering up of the truth. I hope you find it on your heart to forgive me for the lying and for snatching your purse when I got off at my stop.

Santa, Why Do You Hate Me?

Yum! Look what I got in my stocking! Gourmet Jelly Beans. Delicious. Need sugar fix. Must eat them all! Munch, munch, gulp, gulp.

Oh, they are sugar free! I have put on a couple of pounds since the holidays started. I guess Santa noticed, though he's one to talk... that fatty! Oh well, gorging on sweets guilt free is always good. Wait, what's that writing in the corner of the box?

Stomach discomfort? I suppose that's fair if I ate the whole box in one sitting. Laxative Effect? Ah, that's just a precaution. I wonder what it says on the back of the box?

Oh no. A recommended dosage of jelly beans? This is not good. Stomach rumbling... things brewing inside. An evil brew. Not a good Christmas. Must go to little boy's room. Damn you Santa, Damn you!

Thanks For The Sweater

Dear Grandma,

Ever since I was a little boy you always told me that I should write thank you notes for any gifts I receive. And I have always heeded this advice because you have always been an inspiration to me. Which brings me to the reason for this letter. I would like to thank you for the lovely sweater you gave me this year.

I realize it is not easy for you to go out and shop for Christmas due to your arthritic knees. I’m sure that while in the store there were many different sweaters for you to pick from. It must have been quite the inward battle between a plain colored sweater and the one with flying reindeer over a city. The sweater you ultimately chose.

It’s perfect by all means. The blue background matches my eyes, the red building matches my hair and the buildings will always remind me that I live in a building much like the ones depicted on this whimsical sweater. The purple one most closely resembles my own detached two-bedroom townhouse, except of course my house had white siding and is not made of scratchy acrylic yarn by small children in China.

Although I have never seen a real deer, nor ever mentioned one before to you, you somehow have detected this would be my favorite animal worthy of displaying across my chest. Perhaps you feel this is my spirit animal. I will consult my local shaman to confirm this fact. And they fly, how magical.

Normally when one sees a number of flying deer chained to one another it is followed by a sleigh with that Jolly Old Man. No, not Grandpa… ha, ha. We both know he’s dead. Of course I mean Santa. I can only conclude that his absence is a comment on how consumerism has hijacked the Christmas season. The reindeer have cast off their bonds of servitude to the great God, Wal-Mart. And you know how much I hate big conglomerates and their shoddy merchandise. The fact you bought this sweater for me is just the sort of ironic twist mixed with a political message I would expect from you Grandma.

I’m not sure when I will have the opportunity to wear this sweater. Perhaps during hunting season I will wear it for a week. Trudging out into the forest gun in hand, I’ll wear the sweater. The other deer will see it and think, “What fun, deer who can fly! Maybe I’ll try and make friends and learn to fly myself.” Then when they draw near I can blast the life out of them. That’s a whole two weeks a year I’ll be able to enjoy this piece of clothing you have thoughtfully given me. Now I just need to buy a gun and develop a taste for deer meat. I hope that it is machine washable so I can get all the blood off of it.

Anyway Grandma, thank you for the thoughtful gift. It is only rivaled by your birthday gift to me of the cat sweater, which of course I wear during cat hunting season.

Best wishes and Happy New Year.

Love,

Sammy

Who Likes A The Parody? You A Do, That's A Who!

Memo To All Staff RE: Holiday Party

To: All Staff

CC: Celebrations Catering

From: Jeff Lundin, Manager of Communications

Date: December 27, 2006

Subject: Holiday Party


Firstly I would like to thank the Human Resources Department on the excellent holiday party on Friday. Kudos to you and your team Frank! Although I had a wonderful and fun filled time, I have had the holiday to think about my behaviour and have some regrets. At this time I would like to apologize for my indiscretions.

Firstly I apologize to Ms. Raye, the President’s Secretary. I realize now that many don’t take being called a dog as a compliment. I want you to know that I merely meant I admire how loyal you are to both the President and to Hauser & Phillius Finance as a whole. You do a great job at keeping everyone organized. You might say you are the company’s “best friend”.

Next, Robert our Director of Information Technology, I am sorry that you took my comment of your having “soft hands, like a woman” the wrong way. I just think that your hygiene regiment is something we should all strive for. Robert, as way of apology I’ll sell you my Elixir of Major Defense for only 40 silver next time we are on World of Warcraft together!

And to Marie, everyone’s favorite girl in accounting, although I am not sorry for slapping you on the behind and panting wildly, I am sorry that you didn’t realize this was a compliment, a sort of physical manifestation saying “You look lovely tonight and that dress suits you quite well.”

Pricilla, our new Client Service Officer, I want to welcome you in your first week with us. Perhaps our first meeting should have been something more formal than my hanging my genitalia over the top of your cubicle and shouting, “Who in the hamster cage wants a drink?” I hope you enjoy your time with us and I wish you all the best in your new position.

I now realize that not everyone celebrates Christmas. Ayaat I now know that your people celebrate a different holiday and do not participate in some our Christmas celebration. Therefore I apologize for throwing the Christmas Tree onto your desk and calling you a “stuck up jackass”. I do hope we can raise a glass of eggnog together and put this ugly episode behind us.

And finally to everyone in the office as well as the good people at Celebrations Catering, who I’ve cc’d on this memo, I apologize for fashioning a pair of pants from the sliced meats and rolling around on the buffet table while asking people to “eat my meat”. By the way wasn’t the cheery cheesecakes they put out delicious? Let’s have them catering all our events. Am I alone on that one?

Again thank you Frank for putting on a great holiday office party. Next year though, maybe it shouldn’t be open bar.

The Murderer Is…

After an intense investigation by British authorities into the 1997 death of the Princess of Wales Diana Spencer the shocking truth has been uncovered. Many conspiracy theories have emerged regarding the death of Diana, and one has rung true. The Princess was in fact murdered. A little after nine years later the identity of this killer has been exposed. A killer who turns out to have been very close to the Princess and was known to be in her presence during the night of her untimely death. The killer was none other than her Mercedes-Benz S280 Sedan. The car has been placed at the scene of the crime by many witnesses and in fact sustained injuries as a result of it’s struggle with both the Princess and her fiance Dodi Al-Fayed. When asked for a comment the Mercedes only responded “honk, honk.”

Many have asked why someone so close to the Princess, and appeared to go to every important function with her would turn violent against her. Our own investigations show that theirs is sorted past. Neighbors report arguments in the winter, where the Mercedes refused to start when she was on her way to a charity event to raise funds for landmine survivors, making her late as she waited for the Mercedes to be “ready to go” or as the close friends of the car state “warm up”. This argument ended with Lady Diana leaving behind Mercedes and driving to the event in a red Mini Metro. Could this murder have been a result of jealousy?

We may never know the entire story, but there is also suspicion that the Mercedes had an accomplice in this horrid crime. Though the thirteenth pillar of the Pont de l'Alma road tunnel in Paris has not been named an official suspect it is expected that questioning on it’s whereabouts the night of the murder will take place in the coming weeks.