Me First is a children’s book about plump and pushy Pinkerton Pig, who learns the hard way that putting your own needs ahead of others is a faulty life strategy.
As The Eagle sets its sights on the year that was, it seems, at first, the moral of Me First is not being absorbed by most adults.
Social media have become echo chambers for xenophobia, conspiracies, hate, racism, misogyny and bigotry, supposedly in the name of free speech.
Political parties have internalized ‘appealing to the base’ – a self-centred strategy demonizing your opponents and riding an angry, conspiratorial wave of people all wrapped around the axle about, well, anything.
South of the border, attacks trump optimism. It’s Me First.
Yet, closer to the nest, in the fastest-growing town in Alberta, what does The Eagle eye see? Goodwill everywhere.
The day the CP Holiday Train arrived, cheques for $19,000 were handed over from the private sector, and the food bank that was worried about running low ended up with more Christmas hampers than they needed to meet demand.
A new Indigenous centre is in the works.
And The Eagle witnessed its own Hallmark/Me First moment at Tim Hortons last week.
Two boys – let’s call them eight and 12 years old – were wrestling to the front of the line when the young woman behind the counter signalled them up.
Having lost the physical war, the younger one forced another battle: rock-paper-scissors.
What was striking was the fact that nobody – not the Tim’s server, not the manager, and no one waiting patiently in line said or did anything about the prolonged contest. In fact, everyone was smiling.
It turns out the young woman behind the counter – who was smiling wider than anyone – was a displaced Ukrainian who either was amused at the antics of the boys because they reminded her of her brothers or cousins back home, or, she sees the world a little differently this Christmas.
There is every reason for Cochranites look forward to 2023 with optimism, hope and a smile.
Just stop at Tim’s if you need a boost.
