Exilés

My friend "Le Prof" is stuck in Kapuskasing. I can see the tears in your eyes from here. This far-off land in Northern Ontario doesn't have much to offer : a tiny-ass university where he works as a teacher (hence his name), some lumberjacks, and lots of jocks, chicks & bears. It's still winter over there, even as we montrealers have to look very hard to locate some snow - elsewhere than in some coked-out clubber's nose. Let's all share a thought for him.



Another of my friends, Expat, aka Mr. Finances, is stuck in Québec City. He didn't ask for that to happen. After his master's degree, he found a job at Ministère des Finances and had to move there. He's been a montrealer all his life and now spends his time in a dead town where nothing much happens. It's not as northern - or snowy - as Kapuskasing but I'm sure that the two places can be compared in boredom levels. Let's all share a thought for him.

We wouldn't want to be stuck in their situations. But these sacrifices they're making are necessary. Workers cannot always work at the location of their choice. Some work needs to be done, and we're not all so lucky and able to do it wherever we feel like it. Think for a moment about Montreal being the host of all of Province of Québec's workforce : it would be unbearable.

We would have to expand the island. Fill the water with sand, and let the land rise between île Ste-Hélène and here. No boats would go past here.

We could build écluses or use a canal. The St-Lawrence river would have to slow down at our level, as if it was walking on the tip of its toes not to wake us up at night. We no longer would have a beach that nobody's using anyway.

That said, some guys & girls need to work away from the ones they love. There are some workers in Northern Alberta, contributing to the province's growth, spending entire months away in the woods installing gas pipes and making the big bucks. Some things are worse than Québec City or Kapuskasing : Afghanistan, for instance, could be your choice destination if you were a Canadian Forces soldier.

Mobility is a quality not all of us have. Are we ready to move for our careers ? Could we leave all we have behind ? Personally, I don't know. I'd have to try to find out, but I don't feel like it.

Montreal's too cozy.

So, with the sun in my face, reflected from another high rise building near where I work, I declare that TODAY is the first day of Spring '06. Not yesterday, not tomorrow. So start thinking about the next terrace you'll visit, sipping sangria and staring at mini-skirts and high heels passing by, because the season's here and there's no escaping it.

Unless, of course, you're an escapism artist.