I had seen signs around the downtown core declaring a Global Climate Strike on September 26th 2019. Inspired by the outspoken activism of Swedish high school student, Greta Thunberg, the idea was for high school students around the world to walk out of class and demand that grownups take action to ensure that young people—and all living creatures for that matter—have a future. Grownups were welcome to join in solidarity. My daughter texted me and wondered if I’d be going and, assuming I would, asked if I wanted to meet her at Queen’s Park before the march.
The day before, I was browsing in a used book store and overheard a conversation between the owner and a young woman who dropped by to watch things while he ran an errand. He said that in the morning a customer had asked if he was going to close the shop on Friday for the climate strike they same way MEC planned to close their store. He said the woman was a bit passive aggressive in her manner, so he knew there was only one right answer. When he answered that, no, he was an independent small business and needed to stay open to earn his living, she expressed obvious disapproval.
The owner and his friend then fed one another rationales for not going to a climate strike march. A used bookstore is a carbon neutral enterprise so he’s already doing his bit. Typically, people who march go for the warm fuzzy feeling without changing their behaviour.
Did she have children? the friend asked.
Yeah, I think she did.
God, you should’ve told her having kids is one of the worst things you can do for the environment.
I know, right?
And they laughed.
I was tempted to speak up and add that worse than having children is the simple act of breathing which spews all kinds of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.
The next day, I met my personal climate disaster at Queen’s Park to support the message. I took many photos of people hypocritically supporting their children and exhaling carbon dioxide.
