Dilemmas

Today I want to talk about something that has been at the centre of debate in the USA for several years now. I had never really realized how I would come to see the importance of this debate until last night. The question - individual rights versus the right to safety for everyone.

In the US, this has to do with laws like The Patriot Act and the resulting activities by the US government. This is supposed to make the country safer, but it makes individuals liable to much closer scrutiny, including investigation and imprisonment for speaking against the government or for the enemies of the government.

So how did this come to the forefront last night, you ask?

I had just exited a popular Winnipeg hotspot at around 1am or so. This particular hotspot happens to serve alcoholic beverages, of which I had consumed a few. Before getting in the back of the car for a long ride home, I felt nature calling and knew I would need to heed its call before cramming myself in the back seat of that not-so-roomy RSX. So I thought I would just run around the corner of the building. Crap! The ally was lit up like Times Square. Let's try the other side. What the hell? There is just a couple of dumpsters here, but about 10 overhead lamps flooding the area with light. Not even a shadow big enough to stand in. There was some guy from Norway with me trying to find a similar location, and he yelled, "Vat da 'ell? I tot I vud be aable to tak a peese ere mang!" Yeah...uh...me too.

After trying several allys and parking lots, I decided there was no choice - I would have to go under the lights. Having a good enough memory to ensure that there were no memorials to our fallen heroes anywhere nearby, I hid as well as I could next to a dumpster and took care of things.

Seriously...does the security of some old lady walking home to her apartment in the darkness take priority over a drunk guy having to relieve himself??? And really, should it?