Doing the right thing seems so unusual

Last week my wife and I were out doing some shopping.  When we came home there was a box on the door step.

It became obvious that the box, which neither of us expected, was not for us.  It had been delivered to our address by mistake by a shipping company.  So we examined the address and we realized quickly that the address was meant for someone on the other side of our neighbourhood.

So my wife tried to look them up to find the person in the phone book so she could call and let her know we had her package.   We failed to find the person so we then did the next best thing we contacted the company.

After letting them know we had the package and we were looking to get to the right address the company said they would be right over.  It had turned out that the box had been tucked into the wrong delivery area and the person just read the number (which is the same as ours) and dropped it at our door.

So when they got the package back we were surprised at how happy they were.  The delivery person kept repeating how wonderful it was that we were so honest.

Now, this is not to say we are perfect, but I felt a little surprised by this, it seemed like we were being complemented for doing the right thing.   For me this was not a question, at no time did we think we should keep whatever was in the box.  So it just made sense to at least try to do the right thing.

The fact that it caught them so off guard that we would do the right thing I was left wondering why this would be that unusual.  It was sad to realize that we are now the exception instead of the rule.  I think about how the person who ordered the item would feel having invested money in something only to have it go missing.  Yes they would probably get it replaced but speaking from experience it is a bit of a nuisance.

So while I shake my head that we are unusual I am grateful that what we did was natural and not some morality question.   Hopefully it will rub off onto my children when they are in the same position.

Master here I come

About two years ago last month I visited the University of Montana in Missoula.   I was impressed by the campus, by the people and the history department.    I had decided almost immediately taht this location would be a place where I would like to attend.

So I took my GRE in October of 2007 and worked hard to finish my degree so that I could have a high enough standing to attend the school.   In April I was accepted, I was pretty excited but now I had to await two things.  A place to live on campus for me and my family which came in July.   Then a teacher’s assistant position which came in May.  If any of these critical things did not come through I would probably not be able to do my Masters degree.

So then with everything in place I get to the border, something comes up and I was not allowed to cross.    This happens two days before I am to start my TA position and five days before the start of school.

Bigger than Sutton Hoo

Today there has been an announcement of the biggest Saxon find since Sutton Hoo in 1900.

The Sutton Hoo discovery was considered something of a massive contribution to the archeaology of the Saxon period in England.  Saxon finds are so difficult to come across that much of what they were and who they were has been obscured in history.

Unlike the Romans before them and the medieval period after there is not a lot of stone or pottery to be found, these are some of the key ingredients for discoveries as the Saxons generally did not use a lot of pottery, and what they did use was apparently not that nice.  As well most of their houses were built of wood  so other than a few post holes you do not find much other than a rubbish pit to really know what is going on.

So discoveries like these are rare and important finds of historic proportion.

The BBC article shows a gold strip that was engraved in Latin quoting Psalms 67: “Rise up O Lord, and may thy enemies be dispersed and those who hate thee be driven from thy face.”

BC Supreme Court throws out Polygamy challenge

At the beginning of this year I posted a few articles on the issue of the British Columbia government’s insistence to prosecute polygamists over the objections of their advisors.  As I suspected the BC Supreme Court has rejected the government prosecution of the Polygamist sect in Bountiful, British Columbia.

The CBC has a good article here giving an overview of the ruling.

One would think that the British Columbia politicians could have seen this coming.  It the obsession of the government to be seen to be doing something which prompts failure to actually accomplish anything.   Come on, should it not be obvious by now that this is going to be an epic fail?  Our government and courts have legislated or legalized various other forms of marital and non-marital relationships.  Does polygamy differ that much from group sex clubs and same sex marriage?  Honestly?

Yes there have been suggested evidence of abuse, and under age marriages to older men to girls in the community.  But the government is falling into an obvious trap.  The burden of proof leaves them often looking Texas stupid.    I think if the government insists on challenging this further they will legalize polygamy.    Because they are failing to attack the real problem in the FLDS communities.  It is not the polygamy but the abuse and teen marriages which are at issue.

In order to win they will have to attack this like Utah and Arizona and stop trying to convict them on polygamy.  It is a false hope at best.  Particularly with polygamy which is going on in the Islamic community in Canada.     The fact is a few scandalous books and reports by the media are not good enough evidence to convict these men.  Period.

Anyway the fight continues.

Ben Cahoon hates Sunday football

I am a huge NFL fan.  I long ago gave up on the CFL (Canadian Football League) as a league I can watch, this happened about the time the Edmonton Eskimos won their sixth Grey Cup championship in a row.  As much as loved the team I just could not handle it any more.  It was about that time that I began really cheering for the Los Angeles Rams.

As many Mormon players go from college to the NFL one rarely hears them interviewing say Steve Young about playing on Sunday.

Yet today as I opened up the National Post newspaper I found this article:

What my faith and my politics have to do with each other

Some of you might be wondering about the link on my right side bar.

In Canada we are currently in the midst of general wrangling about a possible federal election, which looks a lot less likely now, and just finished a by-election here in Alberta.

In the British parliamentary system when an MLA vacates their seat for any reason we must have a new election called within six months for the seat.  The provincial government announced the last one on September 14.   For reasons I am not sure about most elections in Canada happen on a Monday, so the vote was set for then.

Well to the surprise of most the Wildrose Alliance Party (a centre-right party) won the by-election.  In fact my old boss Paul Hinman was the winner.    I like Paul, we did work well for a couple of years together and so I am happy for him but more happy for the party.

I have often worked in politics under various different hats and have been involved with parties both federally and at the provincial level.   I have voted for just about every party at least once.

See fourteen years was worth it

For the last fourteen years I have been married to a wonderful woman.  She and I have six kids.  They are all wonderful in their own way and we have a fair amount of fun when we are not having to be parental.

When we got married I knew for sure two things about my wife, she had a lot of family (all Mormon) and she did not know how to cook.  The former was pounded into me a few weeks before we got married and my wife took me to a major family reunion.  Five hundred relatives of one Mormon ancestor.  It was a lot of cowboy hats, (ugh) and camping (double ugh).

I found myself swimming upstream and drowning through most of it.

The second part came about because my wife explained that she only knew how to cook one thing well.  Two if you count pancakes from a prepared mix.