I Have Had Confrontations as a 6 ft 8 inch Man......
Premier Pallister is doing all of these "feel good" interviews that talk about him as a person. He is making himself more available to the media than he has in the last four years. This is his clever way to get around the "advertising/campaign" ban that he has imposed. He thinks the irony is lost on Manitobans. Of all the things Pallister has done or not done, the thing that most bothers me is that he thinks we are stupid. He really things we don't see through his crap.
Anyway, so the latest is that he is trying to connect himself to all of us by saying that he has had confrontations as a 6 got 8 inch man. Presumably this has been downtown and I think he is trying to make us understand that he is one of us and understands the danger the crystal meth crisis.
This is absurd on many levels. First of all, I know a lot of men, and over the years, I have divided men into three categories. Short, average, and tall. Short men have short man's syndrome. They are constantly trying to overcompensate for this. Average men have just the normal issues that normal humans do. Tall men have tall men's syndrome. For some reason, they don't think we are astute enough to realize that they are tall. For that reason, they manage to worth their height into every conversation. I'm a little mischievous. I try to annoy them and I preempt their telling me how tall they are. I say things like, "wow, you are about 5 foot 11, right?" It is like I have actually wounded them. They reply that they are actually 6 ft 4 1/2 inches. Then, I can't help myself. I tell them I am sure they were 6 ft 4 1/2 inches at one point, but they have people do shrink with time. It is very unsettling to a tall man.
So, this interview really had nothing to do with Pallister telling us that he is aware of socio-economic problems. It really is just an opportunity to him to throw in that he is 6 ft 8 inches tall. How droll it must be for members of his staff to be reminded every working day that he is tall.
Regardless, he has had confrontations downtown even as a 6 ft 8 inch man. I am not trivializing this because I know there are risks to our safety. These risks used to be confined to the downtown core but now are everywhere. There are risks because of the crystal meth crisis. That is real and I am in no way trivializing this. However, the confrontations that he has had have nothing to do with it. The confrontations that he is having is because a group of people are angry with him. This group of people is called Manitobans. People are angry about health care, safety and security, and the environment and Pallister's lack of caring about this. They don't feel his solutions are going to help and actually hinder the progress of Manitoba.
I also have had confrontations as a 5 foot 2 inch woman. Some of these "confrontations" have escalated. Sometimes, I have had no control with where they went. I have been physically and emotionally scarred because of some of them. However, I have to be honest with you, I have had very few moments of "confrontation" on the streets of Winnipeg that I have felt a threat to my personal safety. I am not trying to prop up my ego, however, I do talk to people and I treat them with respect. I look people in the eye and I smile. I don't view people as disposable. I take the time to listen. I'm not an angel, but sometimes I actually sit down with people who are down on their luck and talk to them. I apologize that I have no disposable income to give them but I still think all humans have a valuable journey and I am willing to listen. It is amazing how many situations can be diffused just by being kind.
Pallister should give that a try.
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