The Bridge with Peter Mansbridge - A Question For You

Episode Date: March 16, 2021

This summer if you've had your vaccine, will you go to a small dinner part if other participants have not been vaccinated?  Plus a new study determines how the pandemic has affected our bodies.  And an excerpt from my interview with Kaleb Dalghren, one of the survivors of the Humboldt Broncos bus crash three years ago.

Hello there, I'm Peter Mansbridge, you're listening to the latest episode of The Bridge, where in just a few moments, I'm going to ask you a question. And hello there, Peter Mansbridge here, and yes, I'm going to ask you a question in this episode of The Bridge. And I find it an intriguing one, and I'm really going to be interested in hearing your answer. I want to get you to write if you want, and we'll make an episode of the weekend special on Friday out of your answers to the question that I'm going to ask in a couple of minutes. I've got to set it up first. It's about vaccines, all right? It's not about whether or not you're going to take a vaccine. We know that somewhere around three quarters of Canadians say they will, they are willing to take a vaccine. There is some vaccine hesitancy on the part of some people, still not convinced yet.

And there are those who are what they call anti-vaxxers. They're not taking a vaccine. But that's not the question. Personally, I'm in the sort of no man's land right now. I'm too young to qualify for the over 80 vaccine onslaught, which is taking place right now. Most provinces are saying, anyone over 80, sign up. You got to get in there now. And I'm too old to get into the 60 to 65 kind of bonus vaccine edition that's going on in most parts of the country right now.

So I'm in the kind of no man's land in between there. Waiting for my moment, which is probably going to not be for another. Probably four to six weeks at least, maybe longer. But that's okay. I don't mind waiting my time. Waiting in line. Because I believe in vaccines. I think they're really important.

And I will be arm out and ready. Now, here's what I want you to think about. Because right now, the number of Canadians who've been vaccinated is kind of pathetically low. It is down in single-digit percentages, well down in single-digit percentages. But if you believe the experts, we're about to see a significant move in the number of vaccines available. And we'll see that in the next week to 10 days, and then it'll really be on charging through. And I hope they're right. Because that may make a difference in how long I have to wait, how long you have to wait.

So here's the question. Let's kind of move the clock forward two months, three months, to the point where a significant percentage of Canadians have been vaccinated. And you start to see, if we get through this whole variant stage, you start to see by this summer get through this whole variant stage, you start to see by this summer, the country kind of opening up and able to do things that we haven't been able to do for more than a year. We won't be completely done yet, but there'll be signs that we can do things we haven't been able to do before. And one of those things is kind of getting together in small groups. Not just family dinners, but maybe dinners that involve more than just family.

So you're kind of with friends. So here's the question. Say you're invited to a dinner party. We'll use that example. Could be any number of different things, but let's say a dinner party at one of your friend's houses. And there are going to be 10 people there.

What do you ask about this dinner party? Do you ask what protocols will exist at the party? Will there be any issue about masks for the pre-eating period and the post-eating period? Or will you ask this question? Do you know whether everyone else has been vaccinated? Who's at this dinner party? You say, I've been vaccinated. Has everyone else been vaccinated? And the host

will either say, yes, here's the list of our friends who are coming and they've all been vaccinated. That would probably give you some sense of relief. However, what if the answer is one of two things? One, I haven't checked yet, but I will and get back to you. Or I have checked and you know what? Six of the guests have been vaccinated. The other four haven't been vaccinated. What are you going to do?

What's your answer going to be about the party? Are you going to the dinner party with almost half the people not vaccinated? Or are you going to say, you know what, I think I'll wait a little longer before I have one of these kind of evenings, especially with people who have not been vaccinated yet. What's your answer going to be? I find this an intriguing question because I'm already seeing signs and you see stuff on Twitter and Instagram and other forms of communication on the internet where there are some serious splits, and Instagram and other forms of communication on the internet,

where there are some serious splits, not just among people at large, but among families about things like this. Friendships may be at stake. So what's your answer? When I said I've got a question for you, this is the question. When we get to that place that we hope to get to, certainly by this summer,

where questions like this can even be asked, what's your answer going to be? When the host of the event says, well, actually, not everyone's vaccinated? You going to go? Drop me a note. The Mansbridge Podcast at gmail.com. The Mansbridge Podcast at gmail.com.

You know, so much could be helped on this front if there wasn't this issue of hesitancy. And I get it. I understand why there's hesitancy on the part of some people. I know some people are, you know, worried now about AstraZeneca because a couple of European countries have said, hey, we're putting a pause on this while we further study it about the issues surrounding blood clots. Canada has not.

As Canada says, the batch of AstraZeneca we've got is not from the same batch or even plant that the Europeans are dealing with. But that would, you know, if you already had pause on vaccines, you probably have further pause after hearing that story. And in the States, there's pause on the part of Trump supporters. You've seen those polling data? Huge numbers. Trump supporters say they will not take the vaccine. They're Trump supporters. We're not taking the vaccine. which is really odd, right?

Because guess who? You know, you know I called him a coward through all last fall and much of last year. Well, he's certainly acting like that again now because, of course course while he never has said anything about having taken the vaccine or the need for a vaccine like the other former presidents have it turns out as i'm sure you know now that in january one of the last things he did as president was he got a vaccine he and his wife got vaccines. Didn't say anything. Didn't have any pictures taken.

Didn't stand there with a needle in his arm saying, this is the right thing to do. No, he kept it a secret. And then it only got out somehow weeks later that in fact he'd had a vaccine. They'd both had vaccines. Now, why would he have taken a vaccine? Because he knows it's the right thing to do To protect yourself and to protect others But his supporters They're not taking it

They probably don't even know he's taking it okay moving on if you're listening to this on Sirius XM Canada Talks channel 167 then you know coming up at the top of the hour

the next hour we've got a special edition of the bridge even more special than this one but it is special it's very special it's my interview with a fellow by the name of caleb dahlgren if you don't know that name yet you're going to know it over the next few days because he's going to start popping up in a lot of different places. He's got a book coming out. It's called Crossroads. What's the book about? Well, Caleb Dahlgren was a survivor of the Humboldt Broncos bus crash in April of 2018. We're coming up on the third anniversary of that bus crash. A terrible crash.

16 people killed when the bus, the team bus, hit a semi-trailer at the intersection of two highways in Saskatchewan, outside of Nippon, Saskatchewan. There were 13 survivors. Caleb was one of the survivors. The book is about his story. And his story is not just about that crash. It's about his family.

It's about his teammates. It's about hockey. It's about small communities. It's a really good book. I'd strongly recommend it. Anyway, we've got a great interview with Caleb coming up in this next hour. And I'll also talk a little bit to my friend, your friend, Ron McLean from Hockey Night in Canada about what Humboldt has meant to the hockey world and some general thoughts about the hockey world.

So that special edition of the bridge is coming up in the next hour. But I thought as kind of a hint of what's to come that I'd run a short excerpt. It was three or four minutes long, of my interview with Caleb. And the interview covers a lot of ground. A lot of ground. This excerpt talks about

the role the team bus plays in travel hockey. This was junior hockey. They were traveling from Humboldt to Nippon for a playoff game. But he talks about the bus and what buses have meant to him and to his teammates. So I want you to hear that now, knowing full well that the full interview comes up at the top of the next hour. So why don't we start with this.

Caleb lives in Saskatoon with his family. He's just finishing his final year at York University. He'll be getting his degree in the next few weeks. And then he's moving on to become a chiropractor. But when we did this interview, he was in his room in his bedroom in Saskatoon. Keep in mind, he had terrible injuries. He had a broken neck, a broken back, serious brain injury, and numerous other things.

And he's slowly been recovering. In fact, has recovered. There are certain things he can't do. He can't play hockey, contact hockey anyway. He can't run because of the brain injury. But he's in full command of his senses, and he has no hesitation in telling his story. So as I said, this excerpt, for the most part,

deals with buses and the role buses play, not only in this story, but in hockey generally. So here's that excerpt with Caleb Dahlgren. Everybody goes on a bus in their life. It's hard to find a person that's never been on a bus. And the bus feels like a safe space too. I know some of the best fun times are on a bus playing cards or joking around with somebody on the bus.

I remember even being a kid elementary school and taking the bus home every day and it was just like no seat belts you think you're fine you just sit in your seat you talk to the person outside you play games or you rock your scissors like just stuff like that where you have no worries in the world it's just a happy space you're safe like nothing can happen to you. And then sure enough, some things like this do happen and that's part of life. And so I think everybody can relate to that aspect of being on a bus and feeling that kind of sense of security and then also having that connection with other people. Have you been on a bus since?

Yes, I have actually. I went on a bus back in June, actually of 2018. So a couple of months after I took a bus to the Washington Capitals game versus Vegas and not been in the NHL Semi-Cup Finals. And how'd that feel? Not the game, but the bus. The game was awesome. The bus, it was actually on the floor.

I thought they were going to take a shuttle. So I was thinking it was going to be a van or something. And they pulled up in a bus, a coach coach bus and i'm like oh okay and so then uh there's only like me and about five others on the bus their parents and maybe five others and so i went sat down and kind of like left around i was like wow i'm back on the bus and it didn't really hit me i saw the bus blowing up and i was like oh okay whatever that went on i was like whoa i'm in a bus and i was sitting in mark ross's spot so like my parents i almost did mark ross's spot and they're like and they they hit them like oh my goodness hit them that this is the first time i was on a

bus and they completely forgot about that too not even forgot but they just completely weren't focused on that aspect of me being on the bus for the first time i was like yeah you guys are sitting in darcy's spot and then they're like oh my goodness like are you okay like yeah i'm actually okay like this isn't that bus and it isn't like the odds of it happening again are super slim. Do I have my seatbelt here? Yeah. But it's not going to happen. If it does, I'll be safe with the seatbelt. I think there's so much strength in going back to the darkest places you can and try to find the positives in it. And so for me, being on a bus is one of the darker places I could go.

And I wanted to overcome that. You know, I think we all understand just how violent those seconds must have been on impact. But I didn't realize it as much until I read in your book about, I can't remember now whether it was you or one of your pals, who was sitting, I think, in row 12. And yet when it was all over, he had impacted on his skin or yours, the 5C, which was the seat seven. That was you.

That was me. The seat seven rows ahead of you. Yeah. Yeah. So I was in 12 and row 12. And so, yeah, it was, I don't even know how it happened to be honest, but obviously I was in an aisle seat, row 12, and it was on the driver's side.

And I must've, when we did collide with the trailer of the semi, I must've honestly flew forward out of my seat and hit my right side of my head because i fractured my right skull right side of my skull and then i must have bounced and hit my eye my left eye on a 5c and then fell again on my head and got a puncture wound in it and so i don't remember that at all like i said but it's all speculation right now, and I'll probably never remember it, but I think that was the big trauma was doing that, and I would have flew because I obviously broke my neck and my back as well, so it would have been pretty severe and serious of a situation.

Well, there you go. Caleb Daldrum, that's just, you know, what we call in the business kind of a tease, right? Just a hint of what's to come in the interview and the full interview. And it's obviously much longer than that. It's more about 35 minutes, I think, with Caleb.

It's coming up across the Sirius network, Sirius XM, Canada Talks, channel 167, at the top of the next hour. So it's a full one-hour special edition of The Bridge. We'll have Caleb, and we'll also have Ron McLean. So I invite you to listen to that if you can, because he is a remarkable young man. Now, still to come on today's regular edition of The Bridge,

we're going to talk a little bit about how the pandemic has impacted not just our health in a general way, but our bodies. Found this on the NBC News website. And it's all about how the pandemic has affected our bodies in terms of, you know, our health and how things have changed in our bodies as a result of the pandemic and the way we've been dealing with it.

There's some stats, first of all, that make this clear on some general terms. Nearly one in four adults, 23%, these are U.S. numbers, okay, and this is based on a fairly big survey of 5,000 people. Nearly one in four reported drinking more alcohol to cope with their stress during the pandemic. A third, 33%, reported anxiety or depression symptoms. 30% reported related trauma and stress. 15% reported increased substance abuse. 12% said they seriously considered suicide in the month before. This is all related to the pandemic.

Broadly speaking, American mental health overall is worse, said one of the leading researchers on this study. We're very social creatures. Human connections are antidepressants. They're anti-anxiety interventions. In other words, you need that connection with other humans. Especially, obviously, if you're living alone, but even if you're just living with a small family, you need outside connections as well. So let's talk about some specifics and how things have been affected.

And I'll sort of go through them in terms of how they put them down. Skin, hair, and nails. Okay, effects of the pandemic have led to changes in people's skin, their hair, and their nails. One of the most talked about is maskne. Do you know what that is? Maskne is the term coined for acne and facial irritation stemming from mask wearing. The American Academy of Dermatology recommends combating the problem with steps such as using a moisturizer before and after mask wearing,

skipping makeup when wearing a mask, or using products that won't clog pores and choosing a mask that fits snugly and comfortably. And if the skin on your hands is suffering from excessive hand washing, moisturize after each cleansing. Hair loss. I know this story. Hair loss could stem from stress or possibly a vitamin deficiency from poor pandemic eating habits stress and anxiety may even worsen the hair pulling disorder that some people have well you know the pandemic didn't start 50 years ago when i started losing my hair and i'm not sure i've lost any more hair in the last year than I'd already lost because I don't think there was that much more to lose.

Nevertheless, I made the study. Teeth. The American Dental Association found that more than 70% of almost 2,300 dentists nationwide reported seeing an increase of teeth grinding and clenching, conditions often linked with stress. More than 60% of dentists also reported an increase in other dental conditions that can result from stress, including chipped or cracked teeth and joint disorder symptoms such as jaw pain and headache. Now, one thing that we know for sure about dentists is a lot of people

have canceled their regular appointments. They're not going for teeth cleaning. They're not going for checkups to see whether they have any cavities. You know, I had a filling fallout. So I had to go to the dentist a month or two months ago. And, you know, I was anxious about it, given everything. But it was fine. It was fine.

All the precautions there were taken back and neck injuries or back and neck pain when workplace when they closed for the pandemic for some those who were working from home started using their laptops at their kitchen table at their couch i'm guilty on that, or bed, not guilty there, never taken a laptop to bed. Even if they had a desk at home, it may not have been set up properly to prevent back aches, neck strain, wrist injuries, like carpal tunnel syndrome,

and other aches and pains that can result from long hours working on a computer in poor posture. Now, we know enough office stories about those kind of problems, and I assume because, you know, things aren't set up properly at home for this, that they're at least as bad at home. Experts say full-blown repetitive stress injuries usually develop gradually over time and may not show up for several months or longer. Heart problems.

Heart patients who've been slacking off on their diet and exercise regimens during the pandemic or skipping routine medical appointments to monitor important issues such as blood pressure and cholesterol could be at extra risk. That's according to one of the doctors. Muscles. With gyms and recreational centers closed or open only on a limited basis, it has been challenging for people to find ways to exercise consistently. And we all know what that does to the rhythm of your muscles, the toning of your muscles.

I like this part. Sitting can actually weaken your backside. Never heard of this. He even has a special condition that has a name, dead butt syndrome. And they have five different exercises that you can find for dead butt syndrome. Google dead butt syndrome, and I'm sure you'll end up finding the syndromes, assuming there are the exercises you can do.

Assuming, of course, you've got a dead butt. All right? Wait, do we really want to get into this the so-called covid 15 you know put on 15 pounds during the pandemic it's obviously had a noticeable effect on waistlines across the country i put on i put on weight i don't think I put on that much. And then I started trying to work it off. And I've done, you know, I've achieved some of that. I'm not there yet, but I've achieved some of that. And obviously, it's good for you the more exercise you can do,

whether it's simply walking around the backyard, walking around the block, or, you know, riding an exercise, or whatever. And the final one they have, the final point they have, and this is a good one. Feet. Women who've given up their high heels during the pandemic

Probably have happier feet But people who constantly walk around the house barefoot Or in socks Risk developing foot problems Like heel pain and tendonitis You know, and I Boy, there have been times where I've been guilty of that, where I'll spend most of the day without shoes on.

That's wrong. You want to have house shoes. And if anything, you know, we're kind of used to in our normal lives, when things were normal, of having, you know, wearing slippers around the house or not wearing anything, because we were, you know, always on the point of going out or doing something else where you'd end up wearing outdoor shoes.

So what I did for the last year, and I know what Cynthia's done and a lot of friends have done, is they've purchased shoes just for in the house. And I've, you know, I've worn sneakers for most of the last year good ones you know with arch support and the whole bit and that's important so that's the that's the last element of this and i you know i think that interesting little piece you know we got we got we got a ways to come back, right? We've been at this more than a year. We're probably going to be at it for another four to six months.

And then as things start to turn around, we got to recognize that we've been out of rhythm for a long period of time. And it's going to take some time to get back into the rhythm we had before, if that, in fact, is what we want. And I'm sure it is. Okay, got a great little last story for you. And because we're coming up on an anniversary,

on March 20th. So it's just a couple of days. March 20th is the 70th anniversary of something that was developed in Canada, introduced in Canada, and caused a bit of a wave. You know how much time is consumed these days on video games? Video game industry is worth billions and billions of dollars. Well, the very first video game was introduced, this is according to Canada's history, history magazine,

the very first video game was introduced in Canada on March 20th, 2020, or sorry, 2021 is the 70th anniversary. So March 20th, 1941. And we can thank an Austrian-Canadian engineer by the name of Joseph Cates for the four-meter-tall arcade game that he developed and debuted at the 1950 Canadian National Exhibition in Toronto. So, sorry. so sorry that's

that's when uh when things got got rolling for this particular video game and march 20th 1951 i get these dates right yet, was when he first registered the patent for the Cates Atatron. That's what it was called. I mean, the Cates story is amazing. He was born in Vienna, 1921. The rise of the Nazis, along with Germany's annexation of Austria in 1938, forced he and his family to flee the country. They eventually arrived in England, where Cates applied to serve in the British military, but was instead deported to Canada

as an Austrian enemy alien. In Canada, he spent two years in an internment camp in New Brunswick that also held anti-Jewish Nazi sympathizers. While interned, Cates studied for his high school equivalency and achieved the best results in the province. He ended up moving to Toronto. He got married, received his PhD in physics from the U of T, became chairman of the Science Council of Canada in 1968, to Toronto. He got married, received his PhD in physics from the U of T, became chairman of the Science Council of Canada in 1968.

But he developed this thing that he nicknamed Birdie the Brain. In 2011, he was appointed a Companion of the Order of Canada. That's the highest level you can achieve in the Order of Canada. That's the highest level you can achieve in the Order of Canada. He only passed away a couple of years ago in 2018 at the age of 97. But this week marks the 70th anniversary, let me get it right this time, of the patent registration of Bertie the Brain. It's kind of neat.

They've got a picture in History magazine of Danny Kaye playing Bertie the Brain at the 1950 C&E, and they're doing kind of an X's and O's game. Who must have thought at that time what this would turn into? I'll turn into it, it did. And as we said, it's now a multi-billion dollar industry. Okay, reminder, big interview coming up at the top of the hour

with Caleb Dahlgren from the Humboldt Broncos hockey team, one of the survivors, one of the few survivors from that terrible bus crash almost three years ago. Tomorrow, it's Smoke, Mirrors, and the Truth with Bruce Anderson. We'll have a special guest. Thursday, potpourri. Friday, the weekend special, where we're hoping to hear the answers from you

to the question, what are you going to do, say, this summer, when one of your friends invites you to a dinner party of 10 people, and you're one of only half of them who've had a vaccine. Are you going to go? How are you going to feel about that? Looking forward to your answer

and your thinking on that question because we're all going to be faced with these kind of dilemmas. Might as well start thinking about it now. All right, that's it for this day I'm Peter Vansbridge this has been The Bridge thanks so much for listening we'll talk to you again in 24 hours Thank you.