This will be a “rant”; someone once accused me of being an angry person. Yes. Yes, I am when prejudice, bigotry, criminality and general asshat behaviour comes into my sphere.
Someone told me of a conversation he had overheard, yesterday. I was gobsmacked. I imagine someone within the LGBTQ2S community would not be shocked. I am, however, a CIS white woman and the bullshit I am about to relate does, in fact, shock, enrage and induce much face palming. Okay, on to the story;
A conversation was overheard between several men, at a work place.
“If some bearded guy tried to walk into a women’s bathroom, saying he identified as a woman and my daughter was in there. Well, by god, I’d stop him and tell him he had to wait until my daughter came out.”
Much agreement and slurs toward the transgender community.
W.T.A.F. dude? When, in your little world, has this ever been an issue? And frankly, your daughter and your son, is more at risk from pastors/priests, people working with youth, teachers and if news reports are to be believed, politicians and business leaders.
Every day, there is a report of one of the above “trusted” heterosexual, usually male but sometimes female, being tried for sexual abuse of children. Not gay, not transgender, not 2 Spirit but CIS individuals.
What is at the bottom of this mentality? Is it a case of “What would I do?” Are you actually the one thinking of perving in a bathroom? You know, “Me thinks thou dost protest too much” kind if thing.
This mentality makes me sick, makes me angry. Grow up or get some therapy, you have problems dude.
(Some sage wisdom regarding tipping in Cuba, I DID NOT write this, I am simply sharing as it is an, often, discussed topic among those of us who visit the beautiful island and her people.)
First may I say thank you so much to all of you who, through your generosity do so much for Cuba. Your gifts, your gratuity and most of all, simply your presence here on the island.
I just read a thread about tipping, and which currency is the best for the Cuban people.
Whether it is a gift, a Loonie, an American dollar or a Euro, a gratuity is a gratuity. There are, however, a few things you should consider, if you are trying to decide how to do so.
For the most part this topic evolves around convenience. Convenience for you, and convenience for the recipient.
To begin, you must understand that there are multiple exchange rates in Cuba. The official bank rate, and the informal exchange rate. There is a big difference. No one knows this system better than the Cubans themselves. The informal rate is twice the bank rate. So, when you tip, the value of that tip will be impacted by that exchange rate. Here are some things to consider:
Tipping in “U.S. Dollars,” is convenient for the Cubans, depending how effectively they exchange that dollar, they may net more proceeds. Inconvenient for a Canadian because Canadians take a hit on the exchange rate., so with that said, a tip of one to two U.S. dollars is still a very good tip.
Tipping in Canadian loonies or twoonies is not a good plan as Cuban banks do not accept the coins, this renders them, pretty much useless to Cubans unless they can find another Canadian willing to exchange them for bills. This is kind of thoughtless as it puts the onus on other Canadians to haul, sometimes, large amounts of the coins, back home.
Tipping in Pesos, is good for both parties but only if you understand the informal exchange rate. If you base the tip on the bank rate, you are not doing the Cuban any favors. If the tip is based on the informal rate of exchange, then the Cuban will be receiving a more realistic tip. Most tourist have no way of knowing that informal rate. For folks on a short one week trip, this is very inconvenient because they have to first get their money exchanged, do so at a competitive rate. Tall order for a first timer. Going to the bank or a Cadeca is a no, no!
Your Cuban friend would like you to tip in “Hard Currency” for multiple reasons,
First and foremost is convenience. They can choose how and when to exchange that money.
They may leave it for weeks or months to exchange depending on their needs and their situation.
They often benefit (sometimes not) from your lack of understanding of the current exchange rate, you might be shorting them, or you might be over tipping.
It is, however, very important to understand, Cubans working in the tourist trade, are the wealthiest people on the island, maids, waiters, bartenders, entertainment staff, bus drivers, taxi drivers for example. Those of us who live here see the cycles. Relationships are everything. A maid at the hotel has multiple relationships with the new arrivals this week, and next week, and week after week, everyone has a friend who is a bartender that took them to their house on his day off for dinner.
No reason to be put off or angry, it is an industry after all, regardless, you are helping a fellow human being.
My wife and I live here, we tip, and we tip often. Generously. We tip in Pesos at the informal rate. Currently 340 to 1 U.S. dollar. We bring U S. dollars because even with the double flip CDN to USD and then USD to Pesos the American Dollar goes way further, as long as we mentally factor in how much we are tipping it works fine.
I know many Canadian tourists who visit the resorts and tip weekly so that they can use a five or a ten dollar note.
I know others that tip with gifts. However, depending on the situation these gifts are often exchanged (Sold), in order to convert the gift to cash. Thankfully there is an army of resellers that take care of that so that the maid can convert those running shoes into dollars. Those hair clips and tee shirts into pesos.
In closing, there is no right way or wrong way. There is what is convenient and what is not. Your Cuban friend will be happy that you helped them no matter how that gratuity is shaped, BUT, I can say to the short term turn around guy, you will never go wrong with a fist full of U.S. one dollar notes, other than the initial exchange (if you are not From the USA) one dollar U.S. bills are easy to calculate quickly. They are convenient for you and convenient for the Cuban.
One more closing point. Restaurants in Cuba are, (like Miami) starting to add gratuity (10 percent) to the restaurant bill. It DOES NOT always show as a line item, but it has been added to the total. Always manually total your bill to detect a hidden tip and avoid doubling up.
Canadians do have to thank that Dumbass Donnie for making us realize that we need to buy Canadian or failing that, from anywhere except the U.S.
Wal-Mart for example, yes, it is an option that is close to many of us but there is a Canadian option, Giant Tiger, owned and operated by a Canadian, Gordon Reid. We are using Giant Tiger, now and Wal-Mart only for our prescriptions, Access Pharma, while operating out of a Wal-Mart store is Québecois owned and operated.
While Giant Tiger is quite a bit further for us to go, in a pinch, they also have online shopping.
I’ve closed down all my Amazon subscriptions as they screwed us over, big time, closed warehouses across Québec, putting, at last estimate, over 4000 people out of work. This number includes the subcontractors doing the deliveries.
Yes, this is going to be very inconvenient for me, as we live in a rural area and running out for items is not a fun thing but my pride as a Québecoise Canadian is far stronger than any sense of inconvenience and again, there is always Giant Tiger.
When buying our fruits, vegetables, meats or sundries, we now check if the product is American; if it is, it goes back on the shelf.
We don’t do the “fast food” thing, older digestion….but when we are on the road, on the way to Giant Tiger 😁; we will stop at A&W, a Canadian company, using Canadian products.
Learning, life experience, expanding of horizons beyond comfort zones. We have a duty to ourselves to step outside our carefully constructed boxes and see what lies beyond. Learn about the triumphs, the struggles of others. Perspectives can be changed, if we are willing to put in the work.
Ok, so maybe this doesn’t have much to do with the topic but, I do love this song.
The topic is, sadly, familiar to many people these days, whether heated arguments over political party, gender, sexuality, religion, gun laws or abortion caused the rift, family and friends are seeing relationships torn asunder.
I’m not giving a lecture on how to fix this, I’m suffering through the same ostracism whether self inflicted or “other” inflicted. I still love or am fond of the relationships I had with these people and I do grieve the loss but, for good or bad, I will not give up my convictions, nor will they and so we parted.
The rampant destruction of relationships due to viewpoints, isn’t new. Is it even as widespread as it appears or is it social media that allows light to be shed on the topic? The answer to this is the purview of those far more educated in the psychology of relationships than am I.
Most of us have strong convictions, mine have fluctuated with life experience; what was black and white to me, say – 20 years ago, is not so clear and defined now. You live, you learn. An often overused axiom but its truth is quite evident to me.
I am sorry for the loss of the relationship but I can’t overlook chasms of conviction. I believe in equal rights for all, I believe in gun laws – laws, not bans but common sense laws. I believe gender is none of my business, I don’t live the the body of another and I can’t imagine the heartbreak of being forced into a role that is foreign to me. I believe a woman’s body, is inviolate to the opinions of others, of religion or political stance. I believe skin colour is simply biology, and has nothing to do with worth, criminality (some the most despicable despots in history were, in fact, white), if someone braves a long journey, away from home and family, there is a reason and they deserve to be heard, not locked up or shipped to an island (read – Guantanamo concentration camp).
Just a little rant here; we are ALL immigrants to Canada and the U.S. with the exception of aboriginals. The majority of ancestors arrived, fleeing starvation, imprisonment, subjugation; the same reason people are fleeing to our countries but that’s not a legitimate reason now? Go take a long walk off a short pier.
All I have to say, is that you aren’t alone. A lot of us have lost family and friends. Grieve but move on. Don’t compromise your beliefs because they are uncomfortable. Resist, stand by your ethics, your morals, your social conscience.
Well, I retired almost a month ago and I’m still navigating this “leisure time” concept. Definitely not used to it, worked all my life, raised a passel of kids, looked after aging parents…now, there is only my husband and myself, in our home – oh yeah, 2 budgies and a tarantula.
I know what I need to do;
Work on my novel and an anthology I have been creating.
Blogging, I used to love it but life got in the way, hoping to make up for lost time.
Gaming – I love to game, since the early days of Leisure Suit Larry, Gold Rush and Warcraft. RPGs are my deal, I’m currently back to Skyrim and the new season of Diablo IV.
READING, I love books; my eyesight sucks so I use audio books now. I do manage to go through far more because I plug in my Skullcandy ear buds and I can listen while being productive (housework/cooking etc.)
Travel, uniquely to Cuba; we love the country, the courage and integrity of the people, the history and culture.
Daily writing prompt
What do you enjoy doing most in your leisure time?
Don’t know about anyone else but man, I need a break from the absolute rage-inducing poop-show, inundating the world, right now.
This video was created by a friend of my husband’s, with the intent to raise money for the Montréal Children’s hospital. The guys are all from the Pointe-Claire Old Timers hockey association; they hold all sorts of events during the year and profits go to various charities.
My husband is one of the goalies featured in the video. (Yay Hubby!) We are a hockey family, all our boys played, hubby and our middle son are goalies, our eldest and youngest were defencemen. I was an assistant coach and a manager, at various times over the years.
Grab a coffee and take a minute; for the love of the game, and some smiles/chuckles.
I understand Tristan’s sentiments and his belief that arrests cannot be made without warrant but it is happening. There will be no recourse in a court of law. No such thing as “Innocent until proven guilty”.
Justice? 1500 violent and treasonous, convicted criminals were just pardoned and are out on the streets, as far as I know, with their right to bear arms, even if they have lost that right – I am not up on U.S. gun laws (Are there any? Really? I don’t think so.) Men and women with, absolutely, no respect for the rule of law, armed and ready to fight for their…whatever he is.
Let us not forget that the man holding the most powerful seat in government is, himself a convicted felon. His nominations for some of the other powerful seats within the American system just defy logical thinking; a man who is an unabashed conspiracy theorist who believes he had or still has a brain worm…Robert F. Kennedy Jr. nominated to be the next secretary of Health and Human Services. Let that one sink in, truly sink in.
Secretary of Defense nominee? Peter Hegseth, accused of being an alcoholic, molesting, wife beater.
“A trail of documents, corroborated by the accounts of former colleagues, indicates that Hegseth was forced to step down by both of the two nonprofit advocacy groups that he ran—Veterans for Freedom and Concerned Veterans for America—in the face of serious allegations of financial mismanagement, sexual impropriety, and personal misconduct.”
There is far more on this guy; see the link below and prepare for outrage and disgust.
I understand that the American school system has been suffering and under fire for decades. And the end result is, generations of citizens who do not understand the absolute danger faced by the country. The rule of law no longer applies unless it benefits the GOP and its allies. Justice is simply 7 letters strung together, at this point.
The disaster that is the United States of America, currently, will only worsen. These people do not discuss. We all saw that on Jan. 6th/2024 and we saw it in Charlotteville, NC…we hear it in the opinions of the Magats (and no, I will not refer to them as Republicans because they are not – they use the label but you can slap gold paint on a turd but it remains a turd.)
I am old enough to remember the civil unrest of the 70’s, seeing it on television, meeting conscientious objectors in my city and other Canadian cities. To this day, I do not understand the reason for all those American kids losing their lives and taking the lives of Vietnamese. (There was none.)
I wish I could see into the future, I wish the future looked positive for the U.S. but it doesn’t. News media, social media have been compromised. The entire world is pointing, laughing and snorting in disgust at how far the U.S. has fallen. The president (not capitalizing – he doesn’t deserve it), is THREATENING allies. Canada, Denmark, Panama – he has his eye on Cuba; he has come out and said, he is looking to expand American territory. So, did Putin and that is not going the way either Putin or his pocket monkey, Trump thought it would. Same goes for Canada. For Denmark. For Panama. Cuba, I’m afraid, will fall victim to expansionism, they simply don’t have the resources to fight, unless China steps in.
Unless there is confrontation, and I’m afraid it would have to be violent as that is the only thing that administration and its flunkies understand, the U.S. is on the way to being Nazi-Germany 2.0 or considering Trumps love affair with Vlad? Perhaps Stalinism American style.
More news and I don’t care, I’m taking this down a rabbit (rat hole). Neurolink…chips in the brain, funded/orchestrated by a man, with exploding cars and rockets. A man whom, in front of the entire world, Zeig Heils….And HE arranging for the insertion of brain chips. Think about it. BRAIN CHIPS!
Because, at this point, there is no limit, in my mind, as to how far down, Trump/Musk and their handmaidens will go, how does this play? Detainees, ripped from family and friends, in detention camps, offered a deal, “Hey, we’ll give you citizenship, if you agree to have a brain implant and sign this here N.D.A. What do you say?”
In addition? The migrants, the refugees currently working fields and in underpaid, unsecured jobs, no one else wants? How much do you want to bet that this pseudo-government turns around and tells unemployed, disabled, veterans on benefits that the work is there so they can fill the spots because benefit are ceasing.
Oh I’m not on a Canadian high horse; we have, at least two politicians that immediately come to mind, who are so up Trump’s ass, they may as well be the hemorrhoids they resemble; Pierre Poilievre and Danielle Smith. Things are looking grim all over.
Gaming – PS5; my deal are RPGs. I avoid MORPGs; my patience doesn’t permit it, anymore. My games are Skyrim, Diablo IV (one of the few MORPGs I play), Neverwinter, The Witcher; Wild Hunt and a few others.
Spending time with my family – especially “game” night; Cards Against Humanity, Trivial Pursuit and Tok (I think the last one is unique to Québec).
Cuba; we travel to Cuba – fun and also to help out the folks in that country, suffering under American attacks on their autonomy/sovereignty.
Writing – I write, currently working on an anthology (F) and a novel (SF), that I may get around to finishing…one day.
Wicked Emerald - Live From The Montérégie 