A classic The Thumb reprint
On the way home tonight I passed a huge sign that read "if you ate today, thank a farmer"
I am sooo sick of Ottawa area farmers and their whining. Now I take a great risk by saying this because every time the local farmers get pissed off they take their tractors and combines and block the local highways, causing problems for everyone by essentially using force, i.e. leveraging superior size to make others bend to their will. Let's not kid ourselves - that's force, not peaceful protest. Here's hoping I don't wake up with 40 tractors on my lawn tomorrow.
The last time I checked farming was a choice. And yes I know many farmers are struggling right now but they've made a conscious choice to stay in an industry that's hit hard financial times. When hi-tech went sour and engineers and technologists were getting laid off by the thousands, did they hit the streets in protest? Nope. Did they post signs all over the place "if you used a phone to call 911 to get an ambulance today, thank a telecom engineer?, nope. They hustled to find other jobs, or retrain.
And what's more annoying these days is the use of the term "family farm". You say "family farm", I hear "inherited". Not too many engineers inherited their jobs from their parents.
Farmers don't leave because it's a lifestyle choice. I respect that but don't expect me to pity you because your lifestyle choice isn't paying as much as you'd like. And spare me the noble occupation bullshit. Do farmers wake up in the morning and ask themselves, what shall I do today? put out fires, fight crime, find a cure for aids? Naaahhhhh, I think I'll grab the manure spreader and spread shit all over the back 40. Look at me I'm mother-freakin-Theresa, feeding the world I am. It's gotta be tough working the land in a $100,000 worth of air-conditioned satellite radio-equipped tractor.
No one thanks me for doing my job, Does anyone thank you for doing yours?
But hey, the farmers want thanks for doing their jobs, getting paid isn't enough, they want gratitude. OK, fine. Let me thank everyone who did something or made something that made my day better today, in the order in which I used their products or services, beginning with first thin this morning.
- Thank you Labatts
- Thank you Jack Daniels
- Thank you Bayer Aspirin
- Thank you Valtrex
- Thank you Trojan (xtra large)
- Thank you Quilted Northern Bath Tissue
- Thank you farmer
- Thank you Quilted Northern Bath Tissue
- Thank you Dodge
- Thank you Somali parking lot guy
- Thank you Otis Elevator
- Thank you Gateway Computers
- Thank you Juan Valdez (psstt...and you too Jack Daniels..wink, wink)
- Thank you Quilted Northern Bath Tissue
- Thank you Gateway Computers
- Thank you House of Sushi
- Thank you Quilted Northern Bath Tissue
- Thank you Gateway Computers
- Thank you Quilted Northern Bath Tissue
- Thank you Gateway Computers
- Thank you Quilted Northern Bath Tissue
- Thank you Dodge
- Thank you Quilted Northern Bath Tissue
- Thank you Hungry-Man Dinners (I don't think these come from farms)
- Thank you Labatts
- Thank you Quilted Northern Bath Tissue
- Thank you Playboy Channel
- Thank you Handi-wipes
- Thank you Seagrams
Thank you for reading.