I am always pleasantly surprised at the new and wonderfully weird ways that the human race finds to be completely ridiculous.
A few weeks ago, I read about a new bylaw passed by councillors in Richmond Hill, Ont., that still has me wondering if it isn't all some kind of joke.
Basically, due to the large number of Chinese people living in the community, the councillors banned the number four in all new street addresses because some residents believe the number is bad luck.
No. No. I'll wait while you read that again.
Yeah crazy, isn't it? I mean, I've always thought it was bad luck to be superstitious anyway, but it's completely ridiculous to bring such poppycock into council chambers.
I once poked much fun at our neighbours to the south when their senators wasted taxpayer dollars after Sept. 11 to vote to change "French Fries" on their menus to "Freedom Fries" to chastise France for not attending the Iraq debacle.
Odd they never went with "Freedom Bacon" when we decided to opt out, too. But I digress.
But I can hardly sneer with derision if our lawmakers are deciding policy based on whether or not it gives somebody the heebie-jeebies.
There's a pretty strong Asian influence in our West Coast community so what's to stop the number four from being outlawed here? And where will it end?
I'm sure if you asked most people they'd say black cats are bad luck (way more unlucky than the number four). So we'd better outlaw those right away.
Cracks on sidewalks. We've gotta get rid of those too, because you don't want anyone stepping on them. Everyone knows you step on a crack; you break your mama's back. Practically science, that is.
Most hotels already don't have a 13th floor, so that's covered, but just in case we should ban that number, as well as the use of ladders that we might walk under, and mirrors we may break.
The fear of the number four isn't even a Canadian superstition, at that, so come to think of it, just to be on the safe side, and to ensure everyone is feeling oh so politically correct and huggably snug, let's research every single superstitious fear from every culture and eliminate it.
Or, we could do the intelligent thing and realize that things such as superstition (or religion for that matter) should have absolutely no bearing in the management of a community and the creation of policy or laws.
If anything should be banned, in my opinion, it's stupid people getting elected.
