Things That Irk Me

Yesterday 2 things happened that bugged me (for those of you that know me, you guys know that there isn't much that bug me, so this should be interesting eh?):

1) I don't know if you guys know, but Café Sofa does not do recycling. The reason for that is because the recycling system here in Alma sees the Café as a business, and therefore charges them money. This is incredibly stupid, in my opinion because a) both Le Coderr (recycling center) and La Boite à Bleuets are both non-profit organizations and therefore should help each other out, especially when the money made in the café goes to projects in La Boite à Bleuets to attract young people to stay and thrive in town...so therefore they really have no extra money to spare b) shouldn't recycling be something that is free, because everyone has a social responsibility to recycle? But anyways, because of that, I am now in charge of bringing recyclables back to the house pretty much everyday.
So yesterday I had 2 boxes of recyclable materials to bring home, and as I was walking home I realized 2 boxes together were too heavy for me...if I continued on with them my arms would snap...so I decided to leave one box of materials by the bridge, and walk home with one. After I am done with that, I would return, fetch the other box, and bring that back to the house. So I walked back to the bridge, and as I was walking towards my recyclables I saw 3 punks/teenage boys goofing around the box...then suddenly one of those idiots PICKED UP MY BOX AND THREW IT INTO THE RIVER...oh my lord...
Why are people so stupid and ignorant?
I wish I said something to them (I didn't, due to me feeling a tad intimidated and/or lack of French, especially when I am obviously an anglophone)...Stephen was right, when I told him the story...we must fight for what we believe in.

2) Ok this is more complicated to explain...remember when I mentioned that I wanted to invite Alexandre Cloutier (current MLA in Lac St-Jean) or Stephan Tremblay (previous MLA and Alexandre Cloutier's "boss") to come into the house and talk about Quebec culture (differences, why it is the way it is, separation, etc.)...because Alexandre did not respond and Stephane was waaaay too busy, and since there was only 2 weeks left I decided to give up...until Lucie (my lovely French teacher) told me on Monday that she found a great person (a history teacher, Lucie promised me she is very dynamic and interesting) to do this...because all the English kids and Lucie and Valerie really want this workshop, I decided to go ahead and arrange for meetings...the only catch - Valerie wants the Frenchies to participate, but they don't...
Why don't they? That is a good question indeed (and just to be safe, I am not talking about every single Frenchie in the group), and it pretty much boiled down to them believing that we would never understand, because we are not Quebecois. Therefore, efforts to try are worthless and would only lead to frustrations and arguments (Charles if I am incorrect at what I said here, feel free to correct me). This frustrates us English kids (well not all, and different degrees with me probably feeling the strongest because it is my event, after all) because it is like we try and we are curious about their culture, and we work hard to learn about it and intergrate into it, but it seems like they are defensive and overprotective about the whole situation...not willing to allow us to enter into the Quebecois world. In order for the situation (English/French division) to improve, both sides must communicate and share knowledge...be open-minded. If this is the current situation just between us, how is it like in a bigger picture/level? How could things improve?
On a brighter note, a date has been set (next Wednesday) and I am now just hoping the teacher is great enough that even the Frenchies will be sold and everyone is happy and well-knowledged at the end of this...

Quick little something - Mike just informed Charles on msn that his family doctor is A-OK with him returning to Katimavik...as soon as May 28. However, the Katimavik medical team did not decide whether he is allowed, so we shall wait...and I hate to disappoint but majority of the people in the house were disappointed about this news...

More in the future...