General Discussion

I was talking to a young man a few days ago who lives on the same floor of the same condo as a friend of mine. He is mentally challenged but he functions very well. He lives alone, works three days a week at Costco, and gets himself to work on the bus. We pass in the hall often, say hello or chat briefly, and it is only his habit of repeatedly using my and my friend's names that indicated his need to work harder than many of us to remember them. The other day we had a longer than usual chat and he mentioned his difficulty in remembering names and expressing himself, but in actuality he did very well. Perhaps because he puts in the extra effort.

What he wanted to talk about was our upcoming federal election in Canada and his feelings about Poilievre. To sum up his thoughts, he felt Poilievre only spoke in generalities without talking about specific plans or policies, and he was very concerned. He also said how much he hated listening to the news coming out of the States because it was so horrible.

There's another friend I speak with who has an IQ in the 140+ range. He has dyslexia. He went to school before this was recognized and developed his own method to teach himself to read which was later adopted by area schools, although I'm sure there are different programs now. We've also spoken about the upcoming election. His main concern was about the possibility of the Liberals enacting greater restrictions on guns because he hunts (and grows vegetables) to lower his food costs. For that reason, this election he plans to vote Conservative. And this despite the fact that he and members of his immediate family have serious health concerns. They have, between them, required repeated ER visits, a couple of hospital stays, and multiple tests to identify the problems. And yet, to quote The Walrus: