Reptiles at Risk

Some things never change ... -James

Posted by Jeff Hathaway on August 21, 2008 at 11:19 PM

Anywhere you go in this country, you're bound to encounter a wide variety of people. With this project we get the pleasure of basically just driving around meeting people. Not to mention, when we meet these people we get to talk shop about herps, one of our favourite things. It doesn't matter if you're in the East or the West, Canadians seem to be down right good people.

For example, when we were in southern Saskatchewan we were in a small town and that day there was a wedding, which meant that night there was a reception. That evening I was out for a walk and low and behold I found myself at a table talking with friendly, down to earth people. A small town full of hospitality ... it reminds me of home. But that's just the tip of the iceberg- we keep meeting people that, in my book, are prime examples of great Canadians.

In Alberta we met two guys (the Paddling Bryans) from Montreal that were going to canoe from Alberta to the Gulf Coast. We spent a great evening chatting with them and sharing a meal. We even met them in a great way. The night before the staff of the park we were at (another group of stellar people) had us all over for a campfire, which inevitably became an evening of sing-songs and story telling. It has been really great to see that some things never change, all across Canada the folk you'll meet are good friendly people.

Alas, there will always be people that just make you shake your head and hope their passport doesn't have a maple leaf on it. One thing that also has remained a constant as we drive cross-country is various mechanical issues with the van and trailer, so it's common that we find ourselves in auto shops and trailer dealerships. Recently, we have been working on our brakes for the trailer to ensure that driving across the great divide goes swimmingly. In one town, we went to a trailer dealership to ask about fixing the brakes. The man there seemed to be quite helpful and told us that his crew didn't have time to fix them, but he explained how we could remove the whole assembly and he'd have a look at it. At our next show we removed the entire brake assembly and brought it to him afterwards. He quickly told us that the entire thing was shot, and that it would be too costly (both in time and money) to replace the individual parts. Luckily he had two of the same brake assemblies in stock. We needed four, but two would certainly do until we could reach the next available dealership. We happily bought the parts and installed them the next chance we got. A few days later we were in Kelowna and went into another trailer dealership- Okanagan Truck and Trailer. The guy behind the desk was also really helpful and after hearing that we needed two new brake assemblies, he asked why. We explained that we were told that our whole brake assemblies were shot and that they needed to be replaced. He then took a look at our old brake assembly (the same one we'd shown the previous shop) and informed us that they looked fine and that he'd be happy to run a few tests on them. He concluded that all they needed was a gentle sanding, a good cleaning, and some adjusting. This was of course something we could do ourselves in a campground after a show. He explain that he would love to sell us a brand new brake assembly but we didn't need it and frankly he'd hate to see us waste our money. So, at no charge he explained, in great detail, how to get our brakes in tip-top shape and wished us a safe journey. It was a little annoying to realize that we had been taken advantage of by the first salesman, but at the same time one could only laugh at the vast difference between the two people. The first guy saw us as a means to make a quick buck off some people he would likely never see again, while the second guy saw a group of people that needed help and took some time out of his day to make sure we got what we needed without wasting any money.

Nevertheless, it does seem that no matter where you go in Canada, no matter the province or what direction the wind is blowing you, 99% of the people in this country are just great. But, that being said, I guess after meeting so many great Canadians we were bound to find one that didn't fit the norm, no matter how awesome a norm it is.

I guess some things never change.

- James