I generally opt out of following the news, but cannot totally remain ignorant since I use Yahoo as my internet opening page. Actually, it would be the same with MSN, or practically any other provider. A few days ago, I read about John Tyner who refused a full body scan at the San Diego Airport, and was then directed for a full body pat. He said to the attendant who would pat him thoroughly, "Don't touch my junk", meaning his genitals. It all turned out a very big hullabaloo with threats of a fine of $10,000. even after he had gotten a refund from the airline, and he'd been escorted by a policeman toward the exit.
The first fact that stared me in the face is how terribly invasive and offensive these procedures are. Who would choose to have a perfect stranger examine your naked body? Many of us are even ill at ease disrobing for a doctor! In the face of such losses as the economy fosters on families and individuals--loss of gainful employment and all that it entails, loss of home, bleak prospects for children's education, non-access to medical care, etc. etc. one freedom should remain. That of protecting one's own body from unwanted intrusions or invasions. I may not earn a salary, or even live in a regular home. But my body remains MINE alone. To reveal naked or not. My choice. To be groped at or not. My decision. To have one's most intrinsically private possession, perhaps the final one, exposed in stark nakedness or groped at in a way that would be judged an indecent act in other circumstances, and this by order of the government, is the final act of coercion into totally surrendering to Big Brother.
A second fact is that if we look back at 9/11, the greatest loss of human lives and property was the assault on the twin towers. The airplanes that slammed into the World Trade Center were piloted by privately trained men. Thousands of lives were lost and I feel quite sure that had those men been scanned for weapons or any article that could be construed as a weapon, they would have passed with flying colours (no pun intended)! Airplanes had been their weapon of ultimate destruction. I do not doubt for one second that whenever and wherever terrorists would plan an attack, most if not all would be knowledgeable enough to realize what procedures are in place at the airports of the world. If they are determined to mount an attack, they will find a way to achieve their goal. A difficult to accept but stark reality.
Meanwhile, civil liberties are increasingly eroded. When I spoke to my son yesterday, he told me of his sister-in-law who had to go to a pharmacy. She went with her miniature Shih-Tzu all properly leashed, then tied the little one outside the pharmacy. A civil security employee accosted her and told her that she wasn't allowed to leave the dog tied outside. OoooK. She then untied the dog, took it in her arms, and started going into the pharmacy. Whereupon, the zealous civil employee followed her in and told her that she wasn't allowed to take the dog inside either. A discussion ensued. Finally, the obviously annoyed pharmacist intervened and said that he was ok with it, then proceeded to fill her prescription.
When I decided to come to Mexico, it was following an incident where I had been parking the rig for years in a small town of rural Alberta. I had secured official permission from the RCMP to park on that abandoned road between a town street and the new highway through town. And it had been given every year. I was careful to keep Keesha and Teddie leashed when they were still with me, then Queenie for that last year.
I had undergone elbow surgery in June and was following a program of physiotherapy twice a week through August. One day when I returned to my parking spot, I noticed that signs had been nailed to the fences on each side of the RV. They posted "Private Road" (an absolute falsehood), "No Camping", "Positively No Camping"... This on a road where I had often witnessed big rigs with trailers full of horses dropping by the field a bit down from where I was parked to let their animals take care of natural needs. At other times, big 16 wheelers would park a bit ahead of me and let their engine run all night long. On weekends, youngsters in a mood to party would litter the area with beer bottles and fast food containers. At the sight of my RV, they would leave for another party spot.
It did upset me a great deal. Feelings of dejection, rejection and finally disgust and of wanting to be free from it all shook me up. You will tell me that these are the risks of boondocking in towns. Not necessarily everywhere, but increasingly so, and on account of bylaws. Pray tell what harm can a lone woman (or a couple for that matter) in an RV parked overnight cause? The week before, I had watched on the news how a woman from North or South Carolina who lived up a hill in what appeared more of a rural area than a high-rise or condo environment had been told on threat of a fine that she wasn't allowed to hang her clothes on a clothesline!
It has been very insidious how bit by bit, one bylaw following another, our liberties (dare I say our rights?) have been eroded, most of the time without our really noticing it. All in the name of law and order? or to ensure conformity in the general populace? I suppose that many bylaws have an ultimate aim to protect citizens. But tell me how the size of a leash or the breed of a dog consists of a threat. When I got Teddie Rottweiler at 10 months of age, I wasn't aware that she was considered an "Unacceptable Breed". The condo association sent me an ultimatum in writing, get rid of the puppy or face expulsion. Within the month I had moved out. BTW my Rottweiler Teddie, in the 10 years of her life, never so much as adopt an aggressive attitude or made even an appearance of a threat to bite anything other than her kibble and her toys.
The football player Michael Vick ran dog fights (secretly) where some atrocities were taking place regularly in defiance of laws and bylaws. Many of the animals were rescued by Best Friends Animal Society and fully rehabilitated. Please check out Best Friends. If I was a four-legged and suffering, I would pray to be rescued by them. It's people who choose a particular breed as a way to vicariously feel the "power" of owning such a dog who are the culprits as well as those who breed them so carelessly for profit.
As a result, all these liberties lost have created an environment where neighbour watches over neighbour for any violation of a sacred bylaw, eager to report it and see him, her, or them, suffer dire consequences. Have we become a society of piously intolerant citizens, impatient with non-conformists, eager to prey upon one another in the name of LAW? Perhaps not such a society everywhere or quite such a one just as yet, but certainly a litigious one. So now it is either conform or pony up the $$$! If you can't, jail time! In many places, you can't even paint your own house to your liking--bylaws forbid it. Why such intolerance? What happened to "Live and Let Live"? And please refrain from pointing out that it's all for the purpose of protecting citizens. How much liberty must we surrender for so called protection? I seem to recall how the Godfather and his minions also offered protection to merchants, bar and store owners...
How I love Mexico! What a breath of fresh air it is from what to me felt repressive if not outright oppressive! Houses are painted in many colours here and make it a vibrant, lively and amazing sight. Based on what I have lived, I'm saying Women Solo RV'ers, BEWARE! You may at times be envied. But all too often you'll be judged as foolish, dangerously courting grievous mishaps, and sometimes be hinted at as I was, "...why aren't you home knitting for the grand-children or taking care of the hubby or waiting for death in your rocking chair?" No longer willing to be subjected to such judgmental attitudes, I found comfort in numbers. Which is why I liked it so much boondocking on BLM lands. At least I was among other non-conformists. Bylaws and regulations at RV parks, coupled with serious crowding up of RV'ers parked (packed?) as sardines in a can, also sent me towards boondocking.
That is, until I made it to Mexico where I found a land of delicious freedom. And I love it so much that I don't even feel like visiting back "home". I'm not saying that Mexico doesn't have its problems. What country is without? But it does feel so much freer, so accepting, so friendly and nonjudgmental. Imagine, I had to give up my favourite Jif peanut butter, some bargains, books in English, and I'll even admit to sometimes a few things more. But my gains are undeniable. I'm living healthier, without many of the stresses imposed by laws, bylaws, rules and regulations. With time, I'll be able to read books in Spanish and will get them free at the public library. And imagine! Instead of losing my house to recession, I'm boondocking on MY lot, and planning to build MY house to my liking, and paint it whatever colour I want! How I love my new country, Mexico lindo y querido!
Please pardon me for getting on my soapbox. I promise to restrict myself to boondocking, Mexico, and RV'ing solo in the future. It's just that sometimes, I feel either terribly disturbed or profoundly emotional about some issues, freedom being my main "obsession".
