Last night we walked a block up the street and watched the Olympic torch pass through the neighbourhood. It was a high energy parade of flags and police presence that almost — almost — had me fooled. See, when Coca-Cola is selling patriotism, they don’t care which country is on the can, just that you’re buying it. And we’re buying a lot.
This city’s O face is surreal. People of all ages were on the streets cheering instead of protesting the stunningly ignorant over-spending. Don’t get me wrong, I know that it’s about the celebration of uniting the world in friendly competition. That’s what people support. But this celebration is costing the province 14 schools. That’s why I bought a red and white track suit from Roots, because I care. Go team!
I’m not nearly as upset about the overall spending as I am about the enormous difference between that and the projected spending. It was a miscalculation, somewhere in the range of epic, but that’s how it goes, right? It seems to happen everywhere that the Olympics go. It’s part of the honour in hosting a guest who doesn’t take his shoes off and eats all your food. And when the Olympics are over, I’m sure we’ll notice some of our stuff is missing too.
The part of the Olympic torch relay that stunned me the most was police in the parade. Officers in cars, dozens on motorcycles, maybe thirty on bikes. Seriously, there were a lot, probably twice as many as needed, but definitely nothing close to a police state. That’s a disingenuous conclusion to draw from my observations. After all, I didn’t see anyone tased.
So now that I’ve got my Coke, my Roots track suit, and I’ve been seriously amused by moving my mouse furiously over Quatchi, I’m finally in the Olympic spirit. Hell, I’m so in the spirit that I don’t even care my country is being represented by a fictional animal! Go Team Canada! And to all the other athletes from all over the world who are here to give their best athletic performance at the 2010 Vancouver Olympic Games: please tip.
