Well, I'm happy enough to be a Canadian....still I am frequently disgusted with the actions (or lack of action) of both my national and my provincial governments. "Shame" is not the word that comes to mind, though...I don't take on other people's shame, just my own.

I'm ashamed of sleeping in so late and procrastinating on things that should get done around here.

I'm ashamed of spending so much time on the Internet.

That about covers it for today.

I will say this though...I spent a week in Cuba with about a dozen young Canadian students (I was one of the older people who went along to help)...and by the end of it we were all deeply affected by the contrast in front of us. There we saw people who had far, far less in a material sense than we do...and they were happier, less bored, more spontaneous, livelier, more mature, more idealistic, and more motivated than the vast majority of their peers in North America. You could say "they put us to shame", to use an expression. They weren't spoiled rotten with consumer goods and video crap like we are here. Their lives were a hundred per cent realer, and they were having a lot more fun too.

Maybe some of us did feel a tad ashamed, I don't know if that's really the right word for it though.

It was breathtaking and absolutely unforgettable. If you haven't had the experience, then you just don't know. It was one of those things where "you had to be there".

- LH