Turn the Page

No matter how busy it is today, work is going to feel like it’s dragging.

Especially that last hour, it always does that.

Partially, because today is Friday, and work days always seem to drag slowly on a Friday.  As an example, Tuesday was very busy and seemed to zip by quite fast (albeit in a rather hectic “we’ve gotta bust our asses” kind of way).  Today, however, I have a decent workload, nothing too stressful.  But there’s no urgency to get things done as there is on a Tuesday.  I’m merely getting them done so I won’t have them to do on Monday when I come back from work.

The other reason why today is going to drag by slowly, is because a game I’ve been waiting for to come out is having their second beta weekend beginning today.  I’ve preordered it, and I’m ready to play.  Granted, I’m at work still.  That game is Guild Wars 2.  I think the biggest reason I’m excited for it is because they have given the player the ability to jump.  Which is fine, but it makes a huge difference.  The other, much larger reason, is because it’s a fantasy setting game, where I can use pistols.  Okay, flintlocks, but still its a step.

The third, and final reason for today going by so so slowly is for the event that I mentioned earlier.  That being Saturday and something rather special that only comes around once a year.  Yeah, tomorrow’s my birthday.  Some might say “but Tim, you’re like old”!  And I’ll answer with (first) “Oh shut it” (and then) “Age is just a number, really”.  You see, I got over the fact I turned 40 two years ago (simple math, 40, two years ago, makes me 42, or soon to be).  I can’t wallow in some depressed mulch over the fact I’m turning older.  It’s just something that happens.  I’m 42!  It means I’m still alive!

This is something that we hear a lot, both in Canada and the United States.  How immigrants are crossing the border to take away our coveted jobs, denying Canadians or Americans (or better put, White Folk) a decent paying (ha!) job.

This morning, while delivering papers to the different retail outlets in the town where I work, I learned something in a very short conversation when the owner of the local convenience store said he needed an ad to be placed in the paper for Help Wanted.  Now, we’re a small town, we have three convenience stores, two of which are gas bars, one does auto repair, and the third rents movies.  None of them are a 7-11 or Macs Convenience store brand.  The one where I had this conversation about putting an ad in the paper for Help Wanted happens to be called the D&E.  It’s run by a very nice Chinese fellow and his wife.  He owns the store, he bought it, he runs it, and he also hires people to work for him.  He also happens to be my next door neighbour in my apartment complex.

But he mentioned that the ad, which previously ran in the paper and was smaller, didn’t garner any phone calls.  I said, we can run it for four weeks, and if there’s anything during that time we can go from there.  He agreed, but added, if there still isn’t anything, he’d be forced to go to the immigration office and bring people in to work.

There’s reality, taking a swift kick to the gonads of life.

This convenience store isn’t the only place that has to do this.  There’s a major potato planting and processing facility in Outlook that does a great deal of business in Western Canada.  When harvest time comes around, they need people to come in and assist with everything from tractor operation, to sorting, to bagging.  They advertise for this help in every major newspaper and agriculture periodical across Canada.  So right there, they have a potential of hitting at least half of the 35 million people who live in Canada.  But here’s the kicker.  Every year they are forced to contact the Mexican Consulate and search for workers to come up to Outlook, Saskatchewan and work.

Immigrants aren’t stealing our jobs.  Canadians and Americans find some jobs so far beneath them that they just don’t want to do them.  Or, they are too lazy, because I know there’s people in this town where I live who could work at some of those jobs.  $9.50 an hour is better than nothing.

So again, immigrants are not taking our jobs.

(as an aside, if there is someone who is looking for work, looking to move, and willing to move to a different country, the convenience store is called D&E Convenience in Outlook, Saskatchewan, Canada and the help wanted ad will be seen in the classified section of the Outlook’s June 7th issue)