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On standby

In the most serious tone he told me, “Say what you will about America, but they are the only thing keeping us all from speaking Russian.” I don’t remember much else about the conversation, but I remember those words.
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The potential for widespread conflict lingers like a bad dream above us will we lay in our cozy and warm beds. In time, like the citizens of Ukraine, perhaps this will be a reality when we wake in the days, weeks or months to come. Stock photo.

As the world plunges further into chaos, it is easy to feel helpless. I know I have been lately. 

And while for some, the war breaking out in the Ukraine may have come as no surprise after eight years of ongoing conflict in the eastern region, for the rest of the world we question ‘How could this really be happening?’ 

Honestly, I don’t know. So much has not felt ‘real’ in the last few years, nothing seems to make sense anymore. All that seems to be true is that terrible things are always a possibility. 

As I continue to read reports from varying news outlets – one thing seems to be clear: the world is on standby as we watch, listen and read about what is taking place on the other side of the globe.  

Somehow it would seem that diplomats have surpassed the moment for dialogue. The only communication left appears to be in the form of further threats and acts of aggression. 

Utter madness has been unleashed and it seems impossible to trap this level of conflict back in its original bottle.  

So where does that leave us as Canadians? We continue to go to work, go grocery shopping, say ‘See you later’ to our loved ones, all the while something is looming halfway around the world. 

Will the effects of the invasion of Ukrainian impact us on Canadian soil? It's hard to say, but the potential for widespread conflict lingers like a bad dream above us will we lay in our cozy and warm beds. In time, like the citizens of Ukraine, perhaps this will be a reality when we wake in the days, weeks or months to come. 

It wasn’t long ago when I thought a pandemic was confined to the frame of a Hollywood blockbuster film. The last two years were nothing like the movies. 

I was too young to live through the Cold War, but I wonder if my wandering thoughts are similar now to the imaginings of students required to practice hiding under their desks in case of a falling nuclear bomb. Living in the ‘What if,’ living on standby. 

When I was still a university student, I found myself in the middle of an in-depth conversation with a taxi driver who looked to be in his late 60s or early 70s. He immigrated from eastern Europe, although I can’t remember exactly where. 

He had three children, the youngest was finishing her post-secondary studies. The other two had already graduated. I’m not sure how we got on the subject, perhaps I had mentioned something on the perils of consumerism and a capitalistic society – I cannot recall. 

But in the most serious tone he told me, “Say what you will about America, but they are the only thing keeping us all from speaking Russian.” 

I don’t remember much else about the conversation, but I remember those words. At the time, it felt like a very extreme notion, but at 19 years old what did I know about the history and geopolitics of Russia or the former Soviet Union? 

Even now I feel lost and confused about what is currently taking place in Ukraine. Although, I have been spending a lot more time thinking about self-determination, sovereignty and what those terms really mean. 




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