Bloggers Use Situations in Own Countries

-


Blogging is an appetizer, a cocktail they serve before dinner at a holiday resort in the Pacific somewhere. Bloggers do not include all the details because they are not writing a PH.D. thesis. That is why I use language and situations mainly understood by Canada, where my desk is and America, the twin sister. 

The two countries are not identical twins by any stretch of the imagination, although they have the same wide streets, automobiles, anchor stores that sell anything from baby food to guns and sports stadiums.

Sports. Pause right there. Boys in Canada grow up chasing pucks with hockey sticks, while in America, they look forward to the first baseball mitt, football or a basketball. Interest in basketball surged in Canada after Toronto Raptors, the only NBA basketball team in the country, won the 2019 championship.

I should explain what the NBA is and not assume the reader knows. That is what my profs at Columbia University drilled into me. They were right but like most bloggers, I’m country egocentric. Example.

I should explain why I’m mad at the federal government or a premier. Not all readers understand Canada’s system of government, but I just skate along, leaving them behind.

Fortunately, food puts a stop to writing that is country specific. I cannot claim that pizza, hot dog, hamburger, roti, spaghetti or pasta in general, is Canadian. These food items came from other countries. They are not as authentic as let’s say ramen in Japan or haggis in Scotland.

If I use perogies (pierogi) as an example in my writing, it’s because this food is sold in grocery stores in Manitoba, one of the Canadian provinces where first generation Ukrainians settled before the First World War.

Maybe I should go back to basics and avoid country egocentric writing, for the simple reason that readers are not in one country. They are in the air, online, so they might not know what I’m talking about. Example. During the pandemic, Canadians received CERB. See what I mean?

By: Nonqaba waka Msimang.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Elections And Political Bullies

-
Image
Forget democracy.   It should be called political bullying. We are watching it in the prelude to the Canadian election on the 19 th of October, 2015.   Americans have also started their political bullying for the looming presidential election next year. So many trees wasted on books about democracy.   Some countries have big budgets for invading other countries ‘ to defend democracy’ but it is seldom practised in campaigning for elections.   Calling opponents names and printing flyers attacking each other is behaviour that will not be tolerated in kindergarten, but it is all legal, in campaigning.   It is irritating and such a let-down to the whole notion of democracy.   Grown-up men and women behaving like Grade One kids. It is also misleading because many voters believe it is real hatred.   Don’t let that fool you.   These politicians play golf together, attend the same dinner parties, eat and drink at the same social events, share jokes and cut deals in parliament.   They
Read more

Comfort Food As Regret Food

-
Image
Chicken curry. Comfort food is good for the soul, which usually bleeds in winter from icy roads, bad drivers that want to annihilate pedestrians, frozen fingers and toes that take a sabbatical.   What happened to my toes?   I thought I was wearing special socks for boots? We therefore have a right to comfort food which throws doctors’ orders out of the window and has no loyalty to calories.   No calculator on the table, thanks very much.   Piece of bread 5 calories, half a banana 10 calories, sugar-free cheesecake 2,000 calories.   Ah! Ah!  We only live once. Naw!   Comfort food is old school food with its compulsory second helping.   It involves licking fingers and giving a big sigh, about the good life, which is shelter, food, love and debt.   The problem is the zip.   The jeans remind you that comfort food can also be called you will regret food .   Home sweet home is even sweeter in winter after surviving blowing snow and bumper to bumper traffic. What is more welcoming th
Read more

No Air Miles

-
Image
I don’t have Air Miles.   I’m considering putting that on a T-Shirt because I cannot go to the drugstore (chemist) or coffee shop without the cashier asking me if I have air miles. We waited for about two minutes the other day, while this guy looked for his Air Miles card in his overweight wallet.   For what?   For a few points. I don’t have air miles because Mathematics is a foreign language.   I was never good in numbers. That is why I squashed the idea of being an investment banker very early in life.   I understand you can invest in cornfields before the soil is turned up or pork bellies even before a baby pig is born. That is how I view air miles, investing in tomorrow or the unknown.   I’m the dumb one.   Some people understand this air miles’ thing so well, I overheard one customer saying: I can even convert my points into cash. Points and air miles are the same thing in Canada and the U.S.   Drugstores or clothing stores even give you a card to collect point
Read more