Money Aint a Thing.

A few summers ago, I lived in Calgary and worked on as a cook on a golf course called Wintergreen. It was an enjoyable summer. I only had one major qualm with my stay in Calgary, and perhaps it was born from a strange complex of my own. My qualm was this: the minute anyone found out that I was from Toronto, they seemed to have something questionable to say about it. Being a proud (recent) Torontonian, I have noticed that those who like Toronto seem to like it a lot. And those who hate it, despise it with every cell in their being. And in my few years of travel, I find that the latter type generally possess the same reasons for loathing - too fast paced, too many douche-bags, too big, too unfriendly, too intimidating ... the typical ‘big city’ complaints.

(I say fuck that, with all due respect.)

One golf club member in particular felt compelled to tell me that:
“People from Toronto want things to move too quickly, they miss out on things”

(Obviously, this is an enormous generalization and this man was an idiot.)

I told him “If you move too slowly things will miss out on you”
As you could imagine, I was so self satisfied after this that I never forgot it to this day.)

I really dug Calgary, (with the exception of the stampede, which was like being stuck in an all encompassing Gretchen Wilson video and furthermore, a vegetarian nightmare), and I also dig many other small towns in the world where things move slowly. But Toronto is truly one of my favourite cities in the world, and I feel completely at home in the busy streets. To be fair though, maybe this man did have a grain of truth in his statement. After all, my (enduring) defence wasn’t an attempt to thwart it, just to justify it. And I only have myself to blame.

In the city, the reason we move so fast is because we are such a success oriented society. This is what I meant by “things will miss out on you”. We attempt to please everyone, to achieve the unattainable idea of success that we end up spreading ourselves thin. To be successful in the urban world involves business suits, elevators, late hours and back pain. And when it comes down to it, harms our families, our health, and the people around us. Success is killing us.
Cowboy hats and country music aside, Canada suffers from the Western syndrome of unfeasible standards. Endless goals ‘pathways to success’ are promoted in schools, etched into our minds at a young and tender age. Are we meant to constantly feel like we aren’t enough?

Let us take a moment to notice the differences between Italian and North American ways of life. Perhaps the most significant difference is the pace. Fast food is basically a metaphor for North American culture. (George Ritzer called it the McDonalization of society – the principles of the fast food restaurant are coming to dominate American life, and gradually affecting the rest of the world.)Even Europe is being affected. It pains me to think that one day, the entire world will have a McDonalds on every corner.

The laissez faire lifestyle of European countries is, to me, the most opposing aspect of our two cultures. The term laissez faire means to let events take their own course. For one thing, its an exotic and appealing notion and the North American admires it for a second before mowing down on cheese cappelletti at the neighborhood east side Marios. Italians live longer, have healthier diets, and a hell of a lot less stress in their lives. Sure, the traditional Italian meal is riddled with saturated fat and wine, but the simple fact that they linger over a meal for like, 3 hours longer than any hamburger – scoffing American is telling. It’s a pleasure principle.

We North Americans have a completely different conception of pleasure. Quantity is quality for us. And that can be seen in our excessive use of condiments alone. Ketchup, salt, pepper, HP sauce, hot sauce. Does a hamburger even exist anymore under all those toppings? Why do we feel the need to cover shit in sugary tomato paste? You would never see that going down at an Italian family dinner. We’re not even eating food. We’re eating xantham gum, corn syrup, hemlock, arsenic... you get the point.

(I have an unhealthy addiction to hot sauce.)

On that note, I came across a quote by Thomas Merton one day that really resonated with me. He said “the plain fact is that the world does not need more successful people. But it does desperately need more peacemakers, healers, storytellers, restorers, lovers of every kind. So be anything you like, be madmen, be drunks, be bastards of every shape and form, but at all costs avoid one thing: success.”

This quote makes so much sense, and yet, the ideal is so persistent and carved into our minds that who knows how long it will take for the world to actually benefit from peacemakers and healers? But I do believe that things flow in cycles.
As a (very successful) rap star once said, “Bling bling, money aint a thing.” The truest words are the fewest words.