You're Gonna Make Me Cry
'I have something to say,' says the child. Out of the mouths of babes.
I’m uncomfortable mixing kids and politics. Let kids be kids has long been my motto. They only get one childhood. There’s plenty of time for them to be activists later.
But governments have spent the past few years intruding into the daily lives of millions of children. They, their siblings, and their parents were all told that visiting grandma might kill her. Schools, sports leagues, and churches were shut down for vast stretches of time. (Remember, a year can feel like an eternity to a child.) When schools reopened, compulsory face masks undermined normal social development as well as language skills.
Once COVID vaccines became available, kids and their families were plunged into conflict with friends, relatives, and neighbours. Some watched their mom cry after being fired for vaccine non-compliance. Some knew their dad was vindictively denied unemployment benefits by our federal government. Canadians of all ages regarded the truckers as heroes because Canadians of all ages were being tormented and wanted it to stop.
I remember seeing the 17-second video at the top of this post early in the Freedom Convoy protest, but was unable to find it again until recently. It provides a tiny taste of what it was like sitting in one of those big rigs in downtown Ottawa for those three weeks.
A child approaches a truck while a grownup records the moment. The driver opens his door, greetings are exchanged, and the child hands the trucker a bag of what appear to be homemade cookies.
Trucker, reaching down: Is that for me?
Child: Yes.
Trucker: Thank you very much. Here, give me a fist bump. There we go, awesome.
Child: I also have something to say.
Trucker: OK.
Child: Thank you for fighting for our freedom of choice.
Trucker: Oh, thank you very much - you’re gonna make me cry.
Glad you found this Donna. Another important video in the archives..
When you first started this piece I thought you were going to say children should have been left out of the global warming hysteria. That is a constant agenda in the current curiculum. My youngest child was seriously depressed about the environment in middle school and now I look back at this as a crime. There are a lot of things I dont like about the current school curriculum, that's why I often homeschooled. I did not want them to have too much influence. And then COVID was so much worse, as you say. Guilt tripping young children about killing their grandparents! What a travesty. Thank you for this sweet video!