Not Real Truckers

It's another political post!

Let me get a few things out of the way before I proceed. And yes, I did put my hair up before I started. I am very much pro-trucker. My dad was a driver, as was my husband. I know a lot of professional drivers and I know how much long-haul drivers sacrifice. Not only for their families but for the rest of us as well. Without drivers, like farmers, there would be nothing on the shelves if it weren't for the effort and time lost with their families.

Now, to get on with the rest. Let's pretend that this movement is only about the new driver vaccine rule. The rule that has been put in place on both sides of the border. It is not only our government that has enacted this. America has now as well. I get it. We are all sick of the mandates, the masks, the drama of it all. The thing I am more sick of though is the overly vocal minority holding the rest of us hostage. I really don't care what people's statuses are. We all need to live our lives. But to pretend that this type of protest is only about covid is an outright fallacy. 

We in Alberta have not had any lockdowns, I don't see any empty shelves in the grocery store, and I understand that due to unprecedented weather issues and this ongoing pandemic, there are supply chain issues. These people are trying to rewrite the narrative to suit their needs. 

The percentage of vaccinated over the border drivers mirrors the vaccination rates for any other profession in our country. This new mandate to have drivers vaccinated to cross the border really doesn't impact the majority of our drivers. It affects those that have refused to get the shot, and then chide the rest of us for our ignorance. It affects those that have drawn a line in the sand and are making it everyone else's problem. 

These are the same people that do all their research on Facebook and think they know better. The same people that don't care that you can carry this virus and spread it. Imagine you are driving from Texas to Alberta, a normal route for produce. So, you stop in a truck stop, at least twice a day. You carry the virus into the truck stop with twenty other people, those twenty other people take the virus from you and move along. See how fast that spreads? See how many lives are going to be impacted? 

Now, let's look at the people in the background of this "convoy for freedom". There is a giant go fund me for this ride. If you look closer at who is doing the fundraising you will see that the money is going to a failed member of the Maverick Party. There is no plan in place there for the money to be distributed. Who do you think will benefit the most from the fundraiser? It won't be the members of the convoy. There are also an awful lot of yellow vests who aren't drivers going along for the ride. Do you know who the yellow vests are? This group has been fined extensively in Europe for promoting hate speech and inciting violence at their protests. Doesn't sound like it's about covid anymore, does it?

Once again these people are trying to force the rest of us to defend our choices. They are 10-15% of the population. They say the media is a tool of the oppressor, and yet how much do they love being on camera telling the rest of us how blind we are. They rail against cancel culture, and yet shout down and boycott anyone or any company that dares not to do what they say. 

I am done with the lies, the vitriol, and the anger. They aren't the only ones with voices. I am tired of feeling like I need to walk on eggshells with the anti-logic crowd. I am proud of my choice to protect myself and those around me. When this is all over I will be able to sit quietly with myself and believe I made the decision. They need to ask themselves if they will be as well. 

Today's song is a protest song. When the real protest was needed. When people's lives were actually threatened. Not for vaccine mandates, but for the color of their skin. Mississippi Goddam by Nina Simone was released in 1964 in response to the bombing of a church in which the lives of six little girls were taken. The record was blacklisted in several Southern states where some groups even went so far as to send broken record pieces back to the record company. 

Nina Simone performed the song at the end of the Selma to Montgomery walk for freedom in front of 10 000 people.