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It looks like I'm going to have to modify the name of my column because you're not so much asking a question as looking for an opinion. So from this point forward the column is called Half-Baked Advice and Brutal Honesty (or HBAABH, nicely palindromic). You are correct. If you were rich you would indeed be, not only allowed, but encouraged to pollute as much as you liked. The idling bylaw is a classic example of green-washing (white-washing with an environmental spin). The city gets to look like they care about topical issues but in reality a handful of people get to make buckets of money regardless of the impact. Politicians milk their smallest accomplishments for all the publicity they can get and quietly run the show to benefit a powerful minority. But despair not, there is a simple thing you can do to help prevent these types of things from continuing unchecked. Vote! There's a municipal election on the horizon, so get off your lazy ass you alfalfa-head and find out what's what. The people who tend to complain the most about politicians are the ones who sit back and let other people decide who their representatives will be and what they will be allowed to get away with. Just because the current administration fails us does not mean the next one will. If more people voted (it takes about 45 seconds) then we wouldn't continually be surprised at the nerve of the folks in power who show little respect for the rest of us. Hey, on a larger scale if more people voted the world would not be in the middle of a corrupt war. Another suggestion would be to pick up a pen and write a letter. To the local government, to a local paper (one with more readers than the New Town Crier), to the companies involved. Contact the hopefuls who are vying for a seat in the next election, call them on it, ask them what they would have done differently. Ask questions to the people who have the answers, not just some cranky guy who writes Half-Baked Advice.
I really enjoyed your column and think I will need it in the future as I have many problems that often stump me. Don't get me wrong, I can tell my friends what to do, how to do it, and the precise steps to take but the resolution of my own issues escapes me entirely. Thank goodness for advice givers who are ever ready and eager to tell the likes of me exactly where to go.
Considering how helpful you are to your friends I'm surprised that they aren't the ones telling you where to go. So you say you have problems but then don't elaborate. Do we have to coax them out of you or are you just happy to receive advice on behalf of people whose problems are not yours? Here's the deal, your son's treatment is his business. You can offer him advice but whether or not he seeks help is his decision. You can talk openly and honestly about your own demons (you sound like you've had a few) and hope something clicks but ultimately he is the only one who can determine when and how to make the changes that are best for him. Your mother-in-law is a different story. Does she live with you by any chance? Or is it that you simply think she would benefit from the care and companionship offered in good facilities? If that's the case then volunteer to spend a day together touring facilities that you think would suit her needs and budget. She might appreciate the time and effort you put into researching a suitable living situation for her. Although she might just assume she was right about you all along. Your last question is a tougher one. Does your daughter want to be pregnant? Do you realize how odd it sounds to read a question from a parent asking how to get their daughter pregnant? I'm not sure if you live in the hills somewhere and you're asking in some kind of twisted literal sense. For the sake of my own weak stomach, I will assume that your daughter wants to be a parent but has had difficulties. Without sounding cliche, adoption is always an option (that should be their catchphrase, rhyming and all). There are more unwanted and orphaned children on the planet at this very moment than ever before. (I just looked it up on the Internet). I sincerely hope my advice proves useful to your family and even though you do seem to be a bit of a busybody, I respect your concern for the ones you love.
I read your last article and I have to say I wasn't really pleased with the perpetuation of negative gay stereotypes. You insinuated that gay men are promiscuous and often have sex before even knowing each other. To quote "Step 1 - Become intimate. Step 2 - If Step 1 worked for both of you, go ahead and introduce yourselves." It's that kind of thinking that keeps us oppressed in today's society. What do you have to say for yourself?
Firstly, is anyone actually looking for advice this week? Secondly, I really like your name. You know in the good old days gays were only allowed to be either flamboyant or outraged, nice that you've chosen the second option. Now let's be real, you've never had sex with a stranger? I have. Every other gay man I know has. Every straight man I know wishes he could. I think the reason that so many gay men do seek out anonymous sex is that we can. I'm not saying sex with someone you do not know is better then with someone you care deeply for. I'm just saying that many gay relationships start off with a sexual encounter and develop into something more (if it's good). Besides, don't take it too seriously, I didn't really make lesbians or straight people sound all that stable either.
Do you have a question you'd like Half-Baked to give you some advice on?
Email Half-Baked at: feedback@newtowncrier.ca
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