Rant #3,148: The Air That I Breathe

Our air quality was better yesterday.

But honestly, it still stunk, literally and figuratively.

Depending on where you were, the air either felt pretty much back to normal or it remained rancid.

Driving as much as I have been doing lately—I am currently averaging about 60 miles a day with all my jaunts thrown in together—I went from one situation to another, and while it was better, we still aren’t our of the woods yet (or the Canadian woods if you get my drift).

I saw plenty of people with masks on outside, which was a recommendation for people who had to be outside for one reason or another.

I also saw people who were obviously oblivious to what was going on, including one guy by my son’s work who lit up a cigarette right by where I was parked … I mean, at this point, even non-smolders like me feel we are smoking three packs a day, but I guess to a smoker, four or five packs a day is no big deal.

And while we have been told that the current situation will dissipate soon, evidently, it isn’t totally going away right now, and other areas along the Eastern Seaboard are now being affected.

Now, I know this is considered a natural dissenter, but this pall is coming from one country into another … isn’t Canada liable for some remedy to the ills that we are battling?

What happens, God forbid, that over time, we find that there has been an increase in lung cancer and other cancers and diseases and ills directly related to these brush fires?

Is Canada off the hook entirely because these fires have not been set purposely?

I would think that they would owe us something—money, technology, something—because these ills have originated from their country.

It is a simple question, and I don’t know if there is a simple answer to that question.

It’s like during our own recent debt ceiling fiasco, I asked the question about the repaying of bills by countries that owed us billons and billions of dollars—if we started a push to collect this money, would we offset our own debts?

This never came up in any discussion of the debt ceiling problem that I heard about or read about, but it is a simple question … but again, I assume that there isn’t a simple answer to that question, either.

And again, we are living in a very illogical time, where wrong is right and everything is topsy turvy, so I don’t expect to get any answers to my questions—and certainly not logical answers that make the least bit of sense—any time soon.

All I know is that I still feel a bad taste in my mouth and throat from this residue in the air, and since I will be doing lots of driving again today and over the weekend, I doubt that it is going to get any better for me, and millions of others who are suffering from this un-Purple Haze.

And as a result of it, are we ever going to be able to say again, “Breathe in the fresh air?”

I don’t have an answer to that question, and I don’t think anyone else does, either.

So try to have a good weekend. Stay indoors with the air conditioning on if you can.

I will speak to you again on Tuesday—I have an early appointment on Monday-- and hopefully, by then, we will all be able to breathe a little easier.