I was going to write a cheeky followup to my Leaf’s Prayer blog of last week.
Seemed to me that a mock obituary might have been fun. Would have been pretty easy to make a few cracks about “choking” and the resultant death of our Leaf Nation playoff hopes.
But then reality set in when the body of Tim Bosma was found. Brutally abducted, murdered, and incinerated. A young husband and father stolen from our midst.
I was going to write about how sad it is we won’t see more people jumping on the Blue & White bandwagon, upon which I was Exhibit A, despite being a season ticket holder.
But then the bandwagon of Canadian retailers and clothiers condemning the working conditions of Bangladesh raced on past me, in a hurry. Over a thousand people killed because some factory owner valued money over his fellow countrymen.
It’s a bit comical and a lot sickening to see how the companies that had their clothes made there are suddenly racing to be the good guy and enforce new standards. Why didn’t you adopt such rigor before the tragedy?
Even worse, I am sure each of us have personally bought clothes from these “Canadian” companies which were made in that factory. We participated in the slaughter.
I was going to write about how sport feels like life and death during a seventh game overtime period.
But then Ottawa teenager, Rowan Stringer, who proclaimed on her Facebook page that “rugby is life”, was killed playing that very sport.
These three tragedies give all of us reason to pray. While sport can be a nice diversion from everyday life, it is no cure for tragedy. Regardless of what or who you believe in, say your version of prayer that such tragedy does not befall your spouse, your daughter, or your sister eking out a living in a garment factory.