For those of you who are regular followers of my blog, you will know that I don't rant often, and that my rants are very few and far between. However, I really need to express my feelings on a matter that royally annoys me. Here in Quebec, the first language is French, and in many cases, and what Quebec is steering toward, only French. Last night on the news it was mentioned that they want big box stores such as Wal-Mart, Canadian Tire and Best Buy to change their names to be more descriptive, and to have French in their names. For example, Canadian Tire might become "Pneu Canadien". Wal-Mart might become "Magasin Wal-Mart", etc., etc., ad nauseum. Yawn. The government is even talking about helping those retailers to make the change by offering some money to do so, and by doing so these stores are showing a 'respect' for Quebec and the French language. In my personal and humble opinion, I think they should 'knock it off' with all this talk of language and focus more on health care and safety, and put the money on that instead of all this ridiculous and, again, in my opinion, unnecessary and insignificant pettiness. There, I got to say what I needed to get out. Thank you for listening. :)
The videos I have chosen for this post are:
A Just for Laughs Gag/Juste pour Rire
Peaceful Nature of Hayden Lake, Idaho
Amazing Nature (4K)
Orangutan Asks Girl for Help in Sign Language
For the following, I am providing the link sources beneath each photo. You just need to click on the images to see a larger view.
Pay as much attention to the things that are working positively in your life as you do to those things that are giving you trouble...
It's finally summer in Calgary!
Gateway to good decisions...sometimes all you need is to breathe, and have a quiet moment with your heart, so you can hear the wise counsel of your soul.
Sometimes there has to be a break down to make room for a break through!
Thank you all so much for visiting me here! I always appreciate and enjoy reading your kind thoughts, which you are always welcome to share.
The "Summer in Calgary" one gave me a chuckle. :)
ReplyDeleteoh i thought Canada's mother language is English.. not aware that there is a province here that has a predominantly French-speaking population.. I guess that explains why Celine Dion has French songs in most of her albums right? hehe is she from Quebec too?
ReplyDeleteI believe my favorite is the Alberta sandals --or should I say "are"; is a pair of boots plural, however ingeniously modified? For the past few months, they've been building a Wal-mart a mile and a half from us on this road that nobody ever heard of 20 years ago. If they called it a Magasin Wal-Mart, maybe I wouldn't mind so much. I seem to be the only one around this vanishing prairie that resents the thing. Good post, and timely.
ReplyDeletePeaceful Nature of Hayden Lake, and Amazing Nature, are lovely Linda.
ReplyDeleteAh yes... the Quebec attitude. I agree with you that there are more important things that money could be spent on. And imagine all this time wasted on such a silly subject. I agree that French-Canadians have the right to protect their heritage and language, but this is just silly. That's like saying everyone who moves to Quebec has to change their name to make it more French.
ReplyDeleteHi Linda, I see what you mean about the pettiness of changing store signs when there are much bigger issues to be dealt with. I really loved your selection, as always. The video of Hayden Lake, Idaho, has just made me feel so calm and relaxed!
ReplyDeleteNice lake ....and what a sweet but true film with the monkey ... to remember
ReplyDeleteIndeed! What's in a name, a rose by any other name will smell as sweet. Much ado about nothing! I thought such things only happen here. Had our share of that. Tsk! Tsk!
ReplyDeleteAmazing videos Linda which cannot help but touch the heart.
ReplyDeletecoucou tu vas bien?
ReplyDeleteje te souhaite une belle journée ,
il parait que l'été arrive? ici 6° cette nuit et là 12° avec ciel bien gris et humide ....
l'été n'est pas ici ....
bisous et bonne fin de semaine
Oh you spell "tyre" as "t.i.r.e"? He he... So American. ;)
ReplyDeleteI thought Canada was more British.
A few years ago, we had the same in Bruges, Linda, all names had to be in 'Dutch'. Now, a few years later most of the night shop are 'English', and new shops as well.
ReplyDeleteNice gag !
Lovely different series vidéos, greeting from Belgium
ReplyDeleteI couldn't agree more! What priorities governments make for money to supposedly benefit the community is at times ridiculous.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you Linda. Btw, I would love that smoothie. Yumyum!
ReplyDeleteThe orang utan is amazing! I'm always surprised by their intelligence :D
ReplyDeleteI like that cat cloud art
ReplyDeleteGood morning, dear Linda! Without knowing any more than what you've reported here, I agree that it seems the money could be put to better use than to be earmarked for changing the names of major retailers to reflect Quebec's French heritage. Hayden Lake, Idaho, is beautiful. Mrs. Shady and I are planning a trip across the northern states of the U.S. and it looks like a spot we would like to visit. That orangutan video had a twist at the end, an important message for consumers to let companies know that going green is more important than making green.
ReplyDeleteThank you very much, dear friend Linda, and have a great weekend!
Hello Linda,
ReplyDeleteThank you for your visit.
Your blog is very beautiful, congratulations.
I really enjoyed the images shared.
Have they no McDonalds in include? How silly. I quite agree with you. I work with the same shortsightedness in my own government. It's frustrating.
ReplyDeleteGod Helg Linda :-)
ReplyDeleteYeah, I agree with you - there's much more pressing issues to decide upon than making established chain stores change their names.
ReplyDeleteI agree with your rant...we have some stupid people here, too, who demand that everyone speak English all the time, no matter what their native language. A friend of mine visited Montreal many years ago and could not get served in a restaurant because he couldn't order in French. :)
ReplyDeleteLove those boots!
Oh we have the same thing in Scotland with Gaelic, although it is probably more urgent as the language is in danger of dying out.
ReplyDeleteThe watermelon and cucumber smoothie sounds very refreshing, I think I will try that!
love the orang utan video. there should be more awareness video out there. if not, who knows eating peanut butter is causing the destruction of such beauty.
ReplyDeleteHa..bet you feel better after your little rant!
ReplyDeleteI do totally agree...the authorities never seem to fund the important things, do they? It is the same here.:/
Another truly beautiful and inspiring post...Breathing Happiness and Princess Sassy especially spoke to me...and the artworks are stunning!
Have a Fabulous Weekend.:)
Big Hugs xoxoxo
Bonjour Linda,
ReplyDeleteC'est vraiment touchant de voir la petite fille avec l'orang-outan!
Bisous
Manon
Hello,Linda,
ReplyDeleteThe first video makes me smile. We need that humorous guy sometimes!
I'm often confused with the Quebec government with this pro French. I always thought that we are all Canadians form B. C. to Newfoundland. I've always respected the French people and I believe all the provinces have French language in their provinces then why can't the Quebec government show the same respect? It bothers me so much. It has to difficult for the people in Quebec who care about themselves but still respect being Canadian. I'm with you Linda.
ReplyDeleteNow that I'm off my soapbox, have a wonderful Friday my friend and enjoy life the way it is. being a Canadian. See ya.
Cruisin Paul
I so enjoyed all the videos. Always come away from your blog with a smile and learning experience. Great quotes. Have a blessed day. Madeline
ReplyDeleteP.S. The government is always trying to make things difficult. I agree with your rant.
Great rant, but when you talk about government they spend their time doing what you don't want them to do and little to no time on the things that are important. Makes me crazy too.
ReplyDeleteLove the nature video the best today. That was awesome.
Have a terrific day and weekend. ☺
I can understand your rant..there are more inportant things to discuss and spend money. I wonder how this thing will go.
ReplyDeleteIt doesn't matter which party is in power... the language police are so deeply entrenched in the province and raring to make life difficult and make a mountain out of a mole hill.
ReplyDeleteLooks like a nice lake.
ReplyDeleteGreetings,
Filip
That's a good point about the pettiness of the language dispute. Here in the USA, English is the official language but in most places signs are also in Spanish. Phone recordings are in English and Spanish. When I was growing up my parents spoke Italian at home because it was their first language. But we were forced to never use it and only speak English. That was too strict. Now I wish I could speak both languages.
ReplyDeleteI think you should speak English outside the home and both languages at home.
Bonjour Linda, les vdéos nature sont merveilleux! Bise et bon vendredi dans la joie!
ReplyDeleteIt is silly, but it gets scary when the government starts talking about spending taxpayer money on their nitwit ideas. You're right. So many people need help...
ReplyDeleteBut, your collection then put a smile on my face! Thank you, Linda!
Cute pics <33
ReplyDeletehttp://anna-and-klaudia.blogspot.com/
Like me on FACEBOOK
I fully agree with you on the language issue.
ReplyDeleteI understand your pain. In Wisconsin, they have changed all the speed limit signs on the freeways to 70 mph. People were already driving that! $$$ spent on signage, but budget cuts to education? What? Dumb, dumb, dumb!
ReplyDeleteDeb
Summer in Calgary, that's a funny picture
ReplyDeleteI once was in quebec and I was surprised that only few people speak (or understand??) English.
ReplyDeleteso I agree with you, linda! :-))
have a nice weekend!
I am still waiting for the day when Quebec wants to separate. I hope it never happens.
ReplyDeleteThat's outrageous! Can't the Government do anything else than be so obsessed with the French language? In Paris, they have Starbucks now and more American brands are opening there. No wonder Quebec does not attract new business.
ReplyDeletei like your perspective ... and i agree that health and safety issues should take precedence!
ReplyDeleteAgree with you thee. similar things is happening over here. It's all the ploy of politicians. They doesn't sems to have the good of the citizens iN teir heart.
ReplyDeleteWe only see what we think.
ReplyDeleteAnd we think we see everything.
So ... who will win? What of the store that doesn't change?
ReplyDeleteChanging store name to French name won't change the world (for better)
ReplyDelete....let's not waste energy on something like this...you're totally right!
I liked sign language orangutan very much!
Hayden Lake is beautiful! Love to visit!