Foremost on my Mind: Are You Driven?

If you want to get a sense of how healthy a culture is, check its driving habits. If that's too over-

whelming, select individuals—such as your husband/wife, sons/daughters, classmates/colleagues—and do the same.

And if you want to be really brave and personal, test yourself.

Good driving habits involve such seemingly picky practice as obeying all traffic signals and signs, maintaining appropriate speed limits, and treating other drivers with the respect they deserve. The inverse is also true, probably to a greater degree.

I am not sure if you have had proper driver's training (from your mother, like I did), or perhaps you learned by the seat of your pants (literally). Either way, I think I can help you out.

Let's start with colours. Work with me, people: Green means “go,” yellow means “slow,” and red means “no.” That was simple, wasn't it? Yellow, by way, does not mean “pedal to the metal.”

I will also suggest to you that when the speed limit says “110,” it is probably a safe bet that it means, uh, 110; you might get away with no more than 120--but certainly not 140. You see, I understand there is a grace amount--some legal wiggle room, if you will—that even peace officers allow for. After that, it's kerpow, right in the kisser.

One of the scariest moments in any driver's experience is this notion of road rage. I know, I know, you would never drop an f-bomb, or give a two-finger salute (minus one finger), or even make threatening gestures at drivers who cut you off. Or at least admit it in public.

But road rage is perhaps the most obvious example I could give in my metaphor here, that is, driving habits as a reflection our culture. Think of the anger, the impatience, the me-ism, all wrapped up in our reaction to the alleged wrongs caused by others. You're quickly asking, I'm sure: Is he talking about our culture or our driving habits? My point exactly.

Even something seemingly as trivial as blasting through a red light or consistently going over the speed limit speaks volumes for where we're at. These are reflections of a lifestyle where pushing the limit, doing first and foremost what we want to do (at the expense of others), and snubbing what's best for the overall public safety, and you see that the symbolism fits well. Only too well.

In an old mannish way, I feel really good when I see cars slowing down on an amber light, stopping at a red one. Even yesterday, I waved to another car, allowing him to nudge in front of me. Man, I felt like both a good person and good driver. It made me want to blow the horn—my own horn, that is.

You get it now, don't you? Driving is not one part of our life, with everything else in another part. If I'm a selfish jerk at home, I will quite likely be a road hog. If I am rude at work, I will likely be a weasel behind the wheel. If I am always pushing for my way and my things first, I'm bound to be rogue on the road.

I suppose there is always the problem of being too polite, too slow, or too obedient, but this is clearly the lesser of two evils. Whether it's living or driving, I do have occasional issues with people who just seem to be too good to be true; I just want to trip them or something. Mind you, if I tried that with a driver, I could get my foot run over.

So next time you're in Lethbridge or Medicine Hat—maybe even Bow Island or Foremost—check out how people drive. Maybe even check out how you and yours drive. It might be quite revealing. I'm not saying you need to arrest yourself, but you may want to assess yourself. Step back and analyze where you could improve your attitude towards the world around you.

You might even ask yourself: What's driving me?

Foremost on my Mind: Good News Indeed

I am a man given to wild and crazy ideas. Many do not make it past the doodling stage, a few slip up to the next level of plausibility, and the occasional one becomes a very good event.

One of my more crazy ideas, that is, sitting somewhere between doodling and dawdling, is that of either a Alberta-based magazine or a province-wide newspaper. If you are familiar with The British Columbia Magazine (formerly known as the Beautiful British Columbia Magazine), you will get a bit of a drift of what I would love to do: Snippets and features from each part of the province, with a a little dash from the past, plus plenty of well-deserved advertising.

The newspaper idea would be a little different: Whereas the magazine would be quarterly, the newspaper would be weekly, maybe even monthly. On a monthly basis, of course, the news would be stale and stagnant, thus negating the current events angle. It would be a newspaper given over to future events (not current events), happenings, announcements, and things relative as to what makes Alberta so great. News about rural life and family life, angles on Alberta's role in the greater Canadian mosaic and global landscape, would be part of the copy.

One of the key thrusts would be good news. Not embellished reporting, either, glossing over all the crummy information. Newspapers can't really sell much—especially the big players in the market—unless there are guts and gore, sex and sin, sensationalism and sensuality, in their copy. Small town players, like the one you're reading today, don't have to stoop to that to gain and maintain readership.

I know, I know, we have the Internet and other conduits of cyber ways to get news out. But I still believe there is a place for good, old-fashioned copy that we can read over our coffee in the morning, or late at night as we wind down for the day.

In addition to wholesome, positive and important information, my magazine or newspaper ideas—while a little different from each other—would also contain good news. There are great things happening throughout Alberta that we really need a chance to read about: Families that are making a go of it, despite financial setbacks; businesses that are growing and impacting their local communities; and young people who are making a positive change in their world. These are just for starters.

You see, it's not all about violence, sex, and greed. There are a lot of great things happening out there throughout our wild rose province, but we're not hearing about it.

Like the recent event that I'm aware of in Foremost, for example. Twice a year, for the past five years, hundreds of young people and some of their parents (that is, anywhere from 95 to 155 at a time) have converged on Foremost, for a time of life-skills teaching, food, fun, chilling, and more food. These are Christian young people, and their textbook is the Bible. There are all billeted by area people, buy gas and food at the local retailers, and play volleyball and soccer in the local community park They come Friday evening and are gone by Sunday evening—back to Coaldale, Calgary, Airdrie, Stony Plain, Edson, plus points west in BC.

I am aware of what they do and how they do it. To date, I have never picked up a beer bottle, heard an f-bomb, and seen a fistfight. This sort of event is news, but there is no real opportunity to get this sort of news out. It is important they we present our fellow-Albertans with good news-- again, not embellished, not partial, just the facts.

I don't know about you, but I really need to hear it. When I read or hear of weekend like this, it gives me hope, real hope.

I lose hope when I hear of knifings in Calgary, of murders on First nations reserves, of economic catastrophes, and such. There is a place for this sort of reporting, to be sure, but surely we have other good things happening that we need to write about and hear about.

Whether my crazy idea of a magazine or newspaper ever gets anywhere, I cannot say. But reporting good things is not a crazy idea, no matter the medium. Any message of hope is good, not bad—right?

In more ways than you can imagine, that is indeed good news.

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Foremost on my Mind: Wash Your Hands

Every now and then, things hit me in a certain way, striking me as strange and intriguing. To the normal peon of the planet, this may not be an issue, but to some of us...

Come with me--figuratively, of course—to the bathrooms of many of our famous stores and restaurants. There is a sign by the door of so many, I've lost count. Today's column, then, is exploring the wonder of why employers must tell their employees to wash their hands.

This deserves a simple question: Why? Believe me, I think they should (and so do their mothers, for that matter)—and so should you, after using the, ahem, facilities—so my question is simply, Why do they have to be told to?

I tend to be a teensy-weensy jaded when it comes to these sorts of things, so I have a couple of reasons why staff is being reminded to do something they should be doing normally: One, the sign is there to impress the customer; and two, that particular business tends to hire staff who are short in the hygiene department. While I hope I'm wrong, I believe I'm right.

In the former reason, if the store needs to remind the staff to wash their hands, why not remind them to flush the toilet, to pick up after themselves, to brush their teeth, and...well, you get the picture. If they need to be reminded about basic life skills—and heavy on the if—why not post that notice in the staff bathroom, as opposed to the public one? Private matters should stay in private places.

The irony is not lost here: If you think I am dealing with a private matter in a public place (newspaper column), what do you think a private sign in a public restroom is?

While I firmly believe washing one's hands after you-know-what, I think the state of the kitchens of some our restaurants, and the type of food we're eating when we go there, is a far bigger issue. If I have access to staff memos regarding washing hands, shouldn't I have access to where the food is prepped and how the kitchen is maintained?

That's a natural segue (look that up in your Funk and Wagnalls) to the other possible reason why the sign is posted in the bathroom. Do you think I feel confidant that I am being served by a staff member who has such limited hygiene sense that he needs to be reminded to wash his hands? (It could also be a “she,” Maurice, but I generally don't read signs in ladies' bathrooms.)

Now, not to attempt to sound too intellectual (that could get me charged with impersonating a brainiac), but isn't the message that the employers are sending actually working against them? In other words, the employer may be trying to impress the public with their high standards for personal cleanliness, when, in fact, they are depressing the public with low standards of personal habits.

If I drop my money in a store where the staff has to be reminded to clean up after, well, you know what, I don't know if I want to shop there.

There's an mischievous side of me that wants to ask each clerk, each teller, each stock boy, “Have you washed your hands today?” That would go over well, wouldn't it? That's up there with asking each female clerk her age and weight, each male clerk about his IQ, each worker his or her marital status.

Reminding the customer that it is in the best interest of all concerned that he or she washes his or her hands makes sense to me. A lot of unnecessary diseases are transmitted through dirty hands. I just draw the line when it comes to staff notices in non-staff places.

I have a reasonable solution. Post a wash-your-hands sign in the public bathroom, but state the following: “Our staff maintains the highest personal hygiene possible.” That would make me feel better all around.

I might even shake their hand to congratulate them.