CFA? Canadian Federation of Ass-holes? Nope. Canadian Fungicide Association? Nope...nice try though. And it's not the Chartered Financial Analyst that's running off with your money to Tortuga either. In this case we are talking about an almost provincial term directed at, well...come from aways. Those that aren't from here, the here being here in Nova Scotia and I can assume the Maritime's in general. I'm a CFA, having grown up in Toronto but living here since 1994. When someone asks me where I am from and I say I grew up in Toronto, often I will get the slightly derogatory sounding...oh, Upper Canada eh?
I have to be honest and call it like I see it. I do see that attitude from time to time in what are supposed to be the nicest people around. To deny it would be sweeping the issue under the rug...it is fact. And it runs the gamut from veiled disdain to outright animosity, whether shown through acts of vandalism or simply some people standing in your way when you want to do something.
I don't want to say that this is the case with all people and all communities, I'm not painting everyone with the same brush, as Mr Harper would have. I've met many people that are more than eager to help and support new comers, wonderful, warm and welcoming. And then there were the others....you know them or people like them. Living in Halifax I don't see it all, but I did see it when I lived in Lunenburg. It happened to me and it happened even more insidiously to people I knew...sadly. For me personally, it never detracted from my experience or my desire to make a life here...more of an annoyance really in the long run. But can you imagine how a couple of guys I got to know would have felt when someone cut the line on their propane tank? This gay couple were simply fabulous guys, incredibly nice, hard working and worldly. And someone thought they shouldn't be allowed to set up shop in town. Be it that they were gay or because they didn't like the cut of their jib some local yokels thought it was a good idea to endanger the whole town...wood burns I hear.
That would be the most visible aspect of this CFA reaction that I have seen. And while in and of itself it is a bad enough phenomenon it points to a deeper issue which I can't see us of ever being rid of...sadly I think we as a species are simply not capable of getting our heads out of our asses when it comes to acceptance. The train wreck of a country to the south of me is a shining example of this intolerance and racism, brought completely out of the shadows by the Drumph and his ilk. We're no better here or anywhere else really, it just seems more prevalent because of the internet and the size of the audience in the States. It seems that for every good thing done by humans it gets undone or over shadowed by monumentally stupid people that feel compelled to spew their particular brand of hatred. It's tiring...it's simply sad.
"Why can't we just get along" and "am I my brothers keeper" are not working the way they should, we're hoping that we can erase ingrained biases by feel good slogans but we don't teach it or live it as a society. When the confederate flag still flies in the south and in 2016 we still have battles over LGBTQ rights we must come to the conclusion that we have to work harder to push the hatred out...and open our hearts more. Tearing down the walls that separate us, distance us from our brothers and sisters, be it religion, skin colour or a line on a map...we would do well to keep tearing down. Progress has come and change has happened, but too slowly it moves.
See, start with an acronym and end up with pontification....sometimes I can't help myself.
Hug your loved ones
D
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