The Bridge with Peter Mansbridge - The Weekend Special #53

Episode Date: March 19, 2021

Your letters, comments and questions -- especially on the issue of dinner invites this summer.

and hello there peter mansbridge here you are just moments away from the weekend special and hello there peter mansbridge here and hey hey, it's Friday. We love Fridays, right? We all love Fridays. We especially love Fridays if your weather report is anything like our weather report here in southern Ontario, which is indicating that it's going to be a pretty warm weekend. It's all up in the double digits for three or four days and nothing but sunshine. And that's the way the day has started here, at least in Stratford, Ontario. So we're like, are we getting close? Are we getting close to spring?

Are we heading towards the April showers? Those are all good things. It's also a good thing that Cynthia got her shot yesterday in that certain age bracket in Ontario where they've allowed shots in the last little while. She got hers. I, of course, have not got mine yet because I'm too old to get my shot.

But that's okay. The main thing is she's got her first shot and uh you know she's a little groggy but overall pretty good feeling good and like bruce and like a lot of other people she got kind of emotional about it all so uh you know good for her so those are the good things that are happening the things that give us caution is on the horizon still looms this whole variant issue and it is picking up steam in certain parts of our country as well as other countries. But it's reason for concern and it's reason for caution and it's reason to ensure that all the protocols you've been following you continue to follow because this ain't over yet nice news yesterday as well from joe biden as we had suggested on

good talk yesterday with chantelle ibera and bruce anderson uh that the americans were considering helping both canada and mexico out and they have to the tune of more than a million doses of AstraZeneca. So that's all good news. Maybe one of those new doses of AstraZeneca will be coming this way. We'll see. Anyway, it's the weekend special. You know what that means? It means a chance for your comments and thoughts and ideas and questions.

And I'd ask actually a particular question earlier this week. I kind of posed the situation. You, we say, have your shot. You've been vaccinated. And this summer, as things start to open up, one of your friends wants to have a dinner party. And you find out that on the list of the dinner party are people mostly who've been vaccinated, but some who have not. And how are you going to react to that?

Are you going to go? So that was the question. And I tell you, there were an awful lot of answers that have come in in the last couple of nights. So I'm going to go through some of those, and also because it's Friday and because it's letters and it's your letters, there's the letter of the week, and that comes up at the end of the podcast.

So let's start on this topic of the dinner party and get some of your thoughts on this. As I said, there have been many. A reminder always, please tell us where you're writing from. Some of you have continued to forget that. Also, while I read all the letters on air, I only read portions of most of these letters. So don't expect your full letter to be written. Especially those of you who like to write long letters. Okay. First one up today is Miriam Rajabali from Kelowna, British

Columbia. I'm an elementary school teacher. My work bubble has been massive since the return to full-time instruction in September. Until we have herd immunity, vaccine rollout for students and very minimal COVID cases in the Okanagan, my approach will continue to be proactive, preventative and cautiously optimistic. If I were invited to a dinner party, whether people had been vaccinated or not, I would continue to play it safe. I would most likely favor an outdoor dinner with social distancing. I may mask up if I felt it was necessary. That becomes a fairly common answer, this issue about, well, if the dinner's

outdoors, I may give it some thought. Kevin Chan from Mississauga. I will attend the said party once I've taken the shots. I would like to set a good example and share the pleasant experience just like Bruce did on Wednesday. I believe the more people share their positive experience, the more people will take the shots. So you never know, the naysayers in the party will go take the shots just because of my presence and my sharing of the experience. Besides, there are legitimate reasons for some people not able to get vaccinated. Age, medical history, and so on.

Our world should be inclusive to all. Yes, there is a small risk for me, but it's about public good as well. That's from Kevin Chan in Mississauga. Michael Brisson in Kitchener. The good Dr. Lisa Barrett told you on Monday, we were in the room, we heard her, that even after vaccination, reinfection, and transmission to others in the absence of symptoms will be the new reality.

So to quote, we do not need this. Okay, that's from Michael Bresson in Kitchener. Robert Ong in Toronto, if the host of the dinner party I'd been invited to states that only some of the people coming have been vaccinated, my response would be this. Will the dinner party be held outdoors and can we maintain social distancing? For as long as that's the case, I would still go to the dinner party. Andrew Chase in British Columbia. Andrew describes himself as a conservative from BC.

Yes, I am going to go and know my family isn't going to be vaccinated. My three kids can make the decision when they're 19. And why would the people that are vaccinated care? Ain't they vaccinated from it? It's a bit of a misunderstanding, Andrew, on what a vaccination does. There isn't enough testing done on it for me, says Andrew. I'm 38 years old. I have a lot of years of paying taxes left to make that decision now.

And my kids, like me, I am going to potentially give them something that will shorten or hinder their lives. Not sure, seems to be a couple of words missing in that sentence. Anyway, Andrew, we get it. You're not going to get vaccinated and you would go to the dinner party. We'll clarify this issue about vaccines for you and what they actually do and what they don't do in a moment. Marnie Kell. Marnie didn't tell us where she's from.

You're bad, Marnie. I am one of the fortunate 63-year-olds that will get an AstraZeneca vaccination tomorrow. Lucky St. Patrick's Day for me. She wrote this on, I guess, on Tuesday. And probably this means she's from Ontario. If I'm invited to an indoor dinner party and anyone is not vaccinated, unless they cannot have a vaccination due to other health issues, I would definitely decline the invitation and wait to get together with the host and others at another time.

Jennifer Montgomery from Cortis, Ontario. She wants to stress this. She puts that in all caps. We will need to remember that even if you're vaccinated, are you listening, Andrew? You may still be able to transmit the virus from your nose to others. I will continue to avoid large dinner parties, which could not be held outdoors,

and where physical distancing cannot be maintained. I will be doing this to protect those I love, not to protect myself. For me, these conditions trump if any or all have been vaccinated, until such time that there is new information. Susan Corse from Hooslinch, Ontario. Thanks for the invite, but no. No thank you, unless all guests are inoculated. Hard and

fast rule that we as a family have decided on as we make our way through this pandemic. In addition, if you want to come visit me, just get the jab, please. I might be I'd hate that jab thing but whatever just get the jab please i might be checking your paperwork before you arrive on my property almost there let's not lose sight of where we are going socializing travel and all

good things are going to be back. We just need to work together. From Dieppe, New Brunswick, John Eric Paulabauer. Because I am immune compromised, I will avoid any and all gatherings where there is a risk of infection. Maybe once the herd immunity has taken effect and the infection rate is very low, I may then change my mind, but for now, estiste verboten. It's not going to happen. It's forbidden. Val Cormier from Vancouver. Yes, a funny start to her answer.

Hope this finds you well. I'm enjoying your move to SiriusXM, but I confess I do miss the infrequent technical difficulties. Made you more relatable, in my humble opinion. A, we still have the odd tech problem because we're using the new technology and everything's done from home. So a lot of virtual stuff happening here. But overall, it's been working pretty good.

And the great people like Craig James at SiriusXM have been terrific in helping us work out some of the audio issues we were having and occasionally still get. A few factors, says Val, that might affect my decision on the dinner party. Outdoors gatherings. Many of my friends do not have backyards. They're West End dwellers in Vancouver. But we have easy access to Stanley Park and other parks, beaches, etc. Suburban friends and family more often have a fair-sized backyard. Indoor event. Cocktail mingling before and after. Regular-sized tables.

No way. Shorter dinner only. Two hours where we could spread out a bit, extra tables, etc., and wear masks when not eating? Possible, yes. Probable, yes, if no alcohol is involved. How big are the guest bubbles of contact? Are any of the unvaccinated, a teacher or in another profession where close contact is common, anybody immunocompromised? Given the number of variants out there and the growing base of knowledge

regarding them, I'm thinking my summer gatherings will be small and probably outdoors, and I'm good with that, especially as the city of Vancouver has loosened drinking alcohol in parks rules. Okay, thanks Val. Michael Redfern. okay thanks val michael redfearn where's michael from let's see waterloo ontario actually that's just down the road from here in stratford as a high school media literacy teacher for over 20 years, I encourage my students to view the media not just passively, but through a lens of critical thought.

In some ways, not much has changed. Actually, I'm not sure this has got anything to do with the question I asked, but it's a good letter nevertheless, so I'll slip this one in in the middle of the dinner party questions. Not much has changed. Fake news has always been with us, and the commercial imperative of the mainstream media business profit remains as dominant now as it has for decades.

I would argue that a passive, uninformed public has in part encouraged right-leaning politicians and governments around the world to exploit the fact that many citizens in North America and Europe have become disengaged from the political process. Okay. You know, I think you've got some truth in that, especially this issue about fake news. It's been with us for a long time.. It's been with us for a long time. The term's been with us for a long time.

You know, a certain guy, a former guy, claimed it was his, that he'd come up with the term. Oh, it's just crap. It's been around for a hundred years. Fairly common term. Maybe it was the first time he'd heard about it, given his lack of knowledge of history. Okay, back to the dinner party.

Laura C. from Ottawa. If such an invitation were to present itself before responding, I would, one, consult my epidemiologists and doctor friends and ask them for their advice. And two, heed the guidelines of the health care experts at that time. That said, if the party were held outdoors during the warmer months and the host had indicated that COVID-19 preventative measures like mask wearing, hand sanitizing, social distancing were in place, I would probably be okay with attending,

even if not all of the guests were vaccinated. You know, I think, Laura, that's probably the most common answer, taking the outdoor option, but still with a degree of caution. Here's an interesting answer from Randy Shantz. For me, it's not likely to happen. I've applied to work at the Mountain View Cadet Flying Training Center this summer. This is one of the air cadet centers that air cadets aged 16 to 18 learn to fly gliders.

Wow, I bet that's fun. The silence in a glider. As part of the, you know, it's like flying a single-engine plane and the engine conks out. That's very quiet. Back in my flying training days when I was in the Navy and flying training in when I was in the Navy in flying training, flying training in the 60s,

one of the things we used to do out of Camp Borden on primary flying school, flying chipmunks, was the instructor would cut the engine on you, shut it right off. So you would have to figure out what to do when you go through the loss of engine procedures. But it was always so quiet after hearing that engine pounding away. Before it suddenly, nothing. And there was a thrill to that, as I'm sure there is to gliding.

Never been in a glider. Anyway, I digress. Randy, as part of the COVID-19 protocol, we will be living in a bubble for the entire summer. So no going out for dinner for me. It's definitely going to keep my life

simple for the summer. Yeah, it sure will, but it also sounds like it'll be a heck of a good time. Enjoy it. Stay safe. Susan McIntyre from Bowmanville, Ontario. A lot of Ontario writers this week. If this party happens before most of us have received the second shot, I would not go unless we are all vaccinated,

and I will ask that question before I agree to attend. If this is late fall, when most of us will have received the second shot, I will be more willing to attend a dinner party, but I will still be inquiring if others have been vaccinated before I attend. I will not be attending if most are not vaccinated. Tish Whitfield, Barry's Bay, Ontario. I have a brother and sister-in-law that live on Vancouver Island. And they've indicated that they're coming

to our cottage this year. This should be a joyful event because we've not seen them for 10 years, but they do not believe in the facts regarding COVID-19 and will probably never get a vaccine. Then I have another member of the family that reacts very negatively to any type of shot and is afraid to get a vaccine. My husband and I will definitely get the vaccine as soon as it's available to us so we can protect ourselves and others we interact with. So what do we do?

We want the cottage to be a space that is safe for our grandchildren and nieces and nephews, but I believe that requires us to exclude family members that are not vaccinated or are not in our bubble. We'll continue to mask and social distance, but now we will also have to make the hard decisions about what family members can share the cottage and visit our small community. I hate this pandemic, says Tish. Matt Balfi from Muskoka, ontario if the dinner party was outdoors and there were others that

were not vaccinated i would attend provided that i was afforded the opportunity to socially distance myself and wear a mask the risk here is low and i think that this is a reasonable and responsible response if the party were indoors however however, I would not attend. In fact, I would not attend even if everyone at the party was vaccinated. The risk of transmission here would be extremely high, especially with the emergence of the variants. Just because somebody is vaccinated... I wonder if our friend in BC is listening.

Just because somebody is vaccinated doesn't eliminate the possibility of carrying and transmitting the virus to others. I have two young kids and who knows when they will be vaccinated. It's irresponsible for me to run the risk of unknowingly transmitting the virus to them, which they could then take to day camp or school. We've already had a close call at our kids' school in the last few weeks, and I'm not confident that the protocols being put in place by the province are adequately protecting our kids and educators. Prioritizing social hour over the health and well-being of others is just not something that I'm willing to do. I'm going to take a break in a sec and switch topics,

but not before reading these comments from Karen Boshy, who's a retired teacher in Edmonton. Regarding the question about how do we proceed with life after vaccination, weighing the odds has catapulted to the top of my priority list. That's how I arrived at my decision to get vaccinated as soon as possible. The risks remaining unvaccinated are higher. That is simply the fact. I will continue to proceed with caution. My habits likely won't change a lot for some time to come, and I will still follow the recommended protocols because

this is what we need to do. Keep my social circles small, avoid indoor gatherings, try to enjoy the great outdoors, and see more of my close family with less worry now that I'm vaccinated and it's warming up again. I wish more people would remember that we are still in this fight together as a country. We live where we live, and most of us are responsible people. If we could overlook the political antics and social outliers that exist within every province and focus on the basic mechanics of the mission and the ground level health care providers everywhere that are working tirelessly to deliver the best services that they have been directed to give, it will become clear that we all need to win this race regardless of the route we take to get there.

Thanks, Karen. Okay, we're going to take a quick break, change topics, talk about napping. Oh, I'm not supposed to giggle when talking about napping. It's a serious subject. And it is. You know, for a lot of people. Including me.

I love to nap. Anyway, napping when we come back. So, the issue of napping came up this week on the Potpourri edition on Thursday. And the values of napping. You know, even if it's like a 10 or 20 minute nap in the middle of the afternoon, how it can re-energize, recharge you. We talked about some new studies that were out on napping. And, interestingly enough, I got a number of letters.

Including this one from Ian Hepplethwaite. Although I'm not to ever speak for my employer, I'll not name them, but I'm an air traffic controller in Moncton, New Brunswick. They have at my place of work sleeping rooms with proper beds. We also have more than one other location with easy chairs, and it's not unusual to walk by with co-workers napping. I don't have a problem with that. I would be have a much bigger problem if ATC air traffic controllers were

overtired. So if a nap in the middle of the day you know 15 or 20 minutes or whatever you what have you works for, that works for me. Barb Demaree from Vancouver. I loved your little segment on napping today. I was well aware of Winston Churchill's napping ritual. My parents were both nappers, and although their health started to decline once they got into their 80s, they both enjoyed good health up to then. My dad was a judge, and because of living in a small town, he had the luxury of coming home for

lunch and having a daily nap before resuming to court at 2 p.m. I swear it contributed to both of my parents' good health. I'm in my late 60s now and with no shame have adopted their daily napping ritual. I like the odd nap. As I said the other day, I always took a nap when I was reading the National. I took one in the middle of the afternoon. It was usually short, 10 or 15 minutes. But I always felt it made the difference to my energy by 10 o'clock at night. Crystal Steers writes from St. Catharines, Ontario. and she was uh she decided right after hearing our discussion the other day about a course in happiness that was being taught at yale university an online course and was being taken by people around the world including in canada crystal writes as someone who works in

the mental health field i've been teaching people for years the basics of how to focus on the small things that can reduce stress and increase joy. We live in a society that has told people to buy things in order to be happy for years, and we're just starting to see that people now understand that does not bring joy. Classes and courses that teach people how to change habits that may have been unhealthy are very much needed in a world full of people who have lived trauma throughout their lives by generations of family members who also had trauma. Susan McIntyre from Bowmanville, Ontario, also writes about that same subject, the Yale course on happiness. She writes, Dr. Laurie Santos is a professor at Yale and has a podcast called The Happiness Lab. deal of insight into human happiness because she approaches all issues from the most recent research from neuroscience, behavioral, cognitive psychology, and medicine. So I think clearly Susan thinks these courses in happiness are good. They're good for us, especially good for us at a time like this.

Earlier in the week, we signaled that it was coming up on the 70th anniversary of one of the major moments in the life of Bertie the Brain, which is acknowledged by some, not all, but acknowledged by some as the first video game. And it was developed in Canada by a fellow by the name of Joseph Cates. Developed in Canada and unveiled it, among other places, at the Canadian National Exhibition

in Toronto around 1950. So into the mailbag comes this letter from Michael Strathmore. It may interest you to know that we still stay in touch with our video game roots at the CNE these days. The fact is that there are more than 2.8 billion gamers on the planet today, so it seemed only natural to create our Gaming Garage program, sort of an event within the C&E itself. It's at the Gaming Garage where our customers can enjoy the kind of experiences that I like to think would make Joseph Cates smile if he were around to see them today. Exports, virtual reality, sorry, not exports, eSports, excuse me, arcades, pinball, board games,

collectible card games, et cetera. Last year, I even contemplated recreating Birdie to celebrate the 70th anniversary of it being showcased at the 1950 fair but of course the pandemic derailed our plans and the cne was forced to pivot to an online only experience i have no doubt that when we finally hold our fair again the fun and the innovative spirit that joseph cates and birdie the Brain brought 70-plus years ago will be alive and well. Great letter from Michael Strathmore, and it just shows you the wide berth

that the bridge takes every day in terms of listeners from all over the place, from all different walks of life. Because who's Michael Strathmore? Michael Strathmore is the manager of programs, attractions, and sports at the Canadian National Exhibition. You know, I'd forgotten that last year there was no CNE. It was a virtual experience.

It's hard to, you know, I was never a big CNE person. For one reason, I grew up in Ottawa, so it was the exhibition in Ottawa, the X, that we would go to as kids. But at the CNE in Toronto, for the last 50 years, I've driven by the CNE on weekends, driving along the, I guess it would be the Gardner Expressway there. And seeing, you know, the Ferris wheel and the rides and all that stuff. And it didn't happen last year. And it's unclear whether it'll happen this year either.

Adrian Lee writes from Unionville, Ontario. Thanks for discussing two of my favorite activities, stepping and napping. We talked about the 4,000 step, 10,000 step thing as well. Enjoyed you revisiting the topic of steps because we first talked about it a year ago, saying, get out there. You've got to walk.

Even if you're walking inside, you've just got to walk. So Adrian asks, are you still pacing around in your backyard? I've started up again and with the snow gone now. For the past year, I've been hitting 100,000 steps per week, mostly pacing between two rooms inside the house and also some running on the treadmill. That's roughly 14,250 steps a day, which is double what you need to do, by the way.

You get just as much activity out of 7,500, say, the most recent studies. Many of those steps involve listening to your podcast. So you keep walking if you involve listening to your podcast. So you keep walking. If you're listening to the podcast, was able to hit 5.2 million steps for the past year. It's incredible. And if I didn't believe me, he, he, he attaches the tracking for me to see. Weekend one hour naps are such a treat for me. I need to take them early in the afternoon. Otherwise we'll have a hard time

falling asleep in the evening. Happy napping. Sam Greenwood from Toronto. We're getting close to the end here. Sam Greenwood's a student at Seneca College. And I guess I was talking about audio quality on something

the other day. And Sam writes, on your comments on media and audio, it's not that hard to get good quality audio. All that's really needed is a decent microphone. The audio of your show is impressive and always has been. There are some professionally produced podcasts with large budgets that I listen to that sound worse. So good mics

are available at low cost. And they are. Anyway, we've, you know, I've talked about this before, so I won't dwell on it, but audio is important. Good audio quality is important for you as a listener, obviously. And especially at times when we're having guests and we're connected on Zoom or some other platform using the internet, it can at times be a challenge. And we try to work with that but boy when you consider the technology of only a couple of years ago and what we're doing today both on radio and

television especially it is remarkable what can be done from literally anywhere. Anyway, thank you, Sam. Appreciate that. Okay, we've come around. As I said, I like to pick one letter every week to close on, which I read most of, if not all of, because I find it really touches a chord. Touches something.

Makes a point. Makes us think. This one comes from Dr. Jane Rusnak. I'm not sure whether Jane tells us where she's, yes, she's in St. Catharines, Ontario. So here's her letter that we're going to close off

the weekend special with this week. Hi Peter, I'm a SiriusXM subscriber and only learned of your podcast over the past couple of months. We just started with Sirius at the beginning of February. It's been a great relationship so far. As most of you know, this podcast is done out of my home in Stratford, Ontario, or at times when I'm in Toronto out of our little apartment there.

But it's always been a hobby of mine, and I've done it basically all on my own. Occasionally, my son, Will, helps on the production side of things. And, you know, it's been fun. But it's also got a significant listenership for podcasts, and it's constantly ranked as one of if not the top Canadian political podcast on the

Apple charts and that's all very nice but it also attracted attention and had a number of bidders come after it looking for the distribution rights and we ended up signing a deal with Sirius XM and they've been great partners for us and that's why Sirius XM, and they've been great partners for us. And that's why Jane has discovered us, because she's a Sirius XM subscriber.

I've been enjoying it immensely. I listened to yesterday's podcast this morning while washing, cutting vegetable, fruit, preparing lunches and breakfasts, I enjoyed your guest's perspective on receiving the AstraZeneca vaccine, as I'm a family physician in St. Catharines. She's talking about the Wednesday podcast, Smoke Mirrors and the Truth, with Bruce Anderson, and Bruce talked about his experience

getting the AstraZeneca shot this week. Back to Jane. I'm not certain of your age, but with the changed guidelines, you may be able to book vaccination in Toronto at one of the many shoppers drug marts offering it. Yeah, I'm still too old for that. Many of my neighbors in the correct age demographic were able to book in Toronto as you don't need to live there in order to get to the vaccine. As a community physician, I was able to receive the Pfizer vaccine a couple of weeks ago. And this is what I found so engaging about Jane's letter. I too was not prepared for the emotional reaction that I had. I had guilt about getting the vaccine before many other equally

deserving people, including my husband, who is a kindergarten teacher and is unable to socially distance in a crowded classroom. But most of all, I felt hope, joy, relief. I lived in fear that I would contract COVID-19 from someone and that I might pass it on to my patients, my staff, my family, before I became symptomatic. Having that factor removed and knowing that if I did get COVID-19 that I wouldn't likely die of the illness gives overwhelming relief. I had quietly been getting all of my affairs in order, trying to teach our teenage daughter to be independent,

telling my husband where important papers were, just in case. In Niagara last week, our local organization contacted family physicians that we could book our patients over 80 years of age for special vaccination clinics to fill slots that were available locally for the following week. For the first time in a year, it was rewarding to be able to do something for patients other than supportive counseling

for all of their mental health issues and anxieties they had because of COVID or managing their symptoms. People and their family members wept with joy at the simple fact that they were booked to get the vaccine. And in turn, I wept too at being able to help the process. Sincerely, Jane Rosnack. Great letter, Jane. And I really appreciate you sending it. And, you know, I'd never thought of it before this week when Bruce first mentioned it the other day about his experience. But I've since heard it from others.

Not quite as poignantly as you've written it out, Jane, but this emotional connection that they had that they weren't prepared for at the very moment they were getting their shot. All right. That's going to be it for this week's weekend special. Next week, among the normal routine of things that we'll have, Monday we'll survey the landscape on the pandemic and the vaccines issue.

Wednesday is Smoke Mirrors and the Truth. Thursday is the normal podcast, Potpourri Day, but it's also the day for Good Talk with Chantelle Ibera and Bruce. And Friday will be the weekend special. But there's something else next week. Can't tell you exactly what it is yet,

but we've got a very special guest next week that will be on a special interview edition of The Bridge on Wednesday at one o'clock in the afternoon, repeated at five in the afternoon. Very special guest, but will also run, and that will be for SiriusXM subscribers or those who are

taking the free option right now, trial period. But also we'll run a major excerpt on the regular podcast on Wednesday. Special guest. I'll tell you about who it is next week. And we look forward to doing that. I think you'll find it interesting.

So we're heading for the weekend. And as I said at the top of the podcast today, great weather out there, at least in this part of the country. I hope it is for you as well, because it affords us the opportunity to get out safely, taking all the right precautions, wearing masks, double mask,

staying distance, or keeping away from big crowds. But here, it's going to be like 11, 12, 15 degrees. It's sunny all weekend. Looking forward to that. But it is not time to let down our guard. It ain't over yet.

All right. This has been The Bridge. Thanks so much for listening. I'm Peter Mansbridge, and we'll talk to you again on Monday.