My Father - The Taxpayer

Some of you reading this know my Father. Some of you reading this are related to my Father. And some of you reading this are related, by blood, to my Father. You will find this particular entry amusing because there is a good chance you’ve been victim to one of his verbal tirades regarding the 2010 Olympics which are to take place here in Vancouver.

For everyone else reading this, let me give you a brief rundown of the situation. My Father is against the 2010 Olympics. The mere mention of the Games will send him into a blood pressure raising fit complete with arm waving and spitting of his words. Seriously, he froths at the mouth and rants like a madman. If you didn’t know him and were witness to one of these episodes, you’d probably call the police and inform them of an escaped mental patient.
If you do know him, especially if you are family, the whole scene is pretty amusing. In fact, I will post articles about the 2010 Olympics on my parent’s fridge just to get a rise out of him.

I am sensitive to my Father’s concerns though, our city has some major problems: homelessness, crime, traffic… and the money being spent to “…put on a show for Gordon Campbell’s (our Premier and resident slime ball) fat rich friends.” (To quote my Father) could be used to fix our city’s predicaments. When it comes to having the Olympics here I am totally on the fence. I think it will be good exposure for the city and bring up tourism and business, but at what cost to us residents?

I’ve always been a MAJOR fan of the Olympics. When I was in elementary school I wrote an entry in our class journal about how it was my dream to grow up and win a gold medal for cross country skiing at the Olympics. Of course, back then I didn’t realize how I’d grow up to be incredibly clumsy and not interested in skiing at all.
Anyway….

Whenever there is a report on the news concerning the Olympics my Mother will turn the channel before my Father can see it. She has to deal with the ranting the most and I’m amazed she hasn’t smacked him with an iron yet because it can get a little ridiculous. Every now and again my Father will call me and without even saying hello, he’ll launch into something he heard about the Olympics that has upset him. I can’t tell you how much I enjoy these calls. They crack me up.

Recently, it was reported on the news that people who worked for the Government who wanted to volunteer for the 2010 Olympics would also be paid for their time, whereas regular citizens who wanted to volunteer were responsible for paying their own way. When I heard this I immediately knew I’d be getting a phone call from my Father. Unfortunately I was not home when he called and my answering machine had to deal with him. So fortunately for all of you I have taped proof of what one of these calls is like.
Enjoy! (you'll have to pause the music on the right hand side to hear this)