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As many of you know, I grew up in Canada but moved to the US to be with my American husband in 2008.
This would have occurred in 1991. It's most notable because it set my political path for the rest of my life though I won't state categorically what it is so as to avoid fratching possibilities.
It was the custom in my city at the time that every time there was an upcoming election, they would at some point have all the candidates come to the high school. They would gather all us kids in the gym, and we'd have a chance to speak to them.
Each candidate for the different parties would stand up and speak in a very general way about what they stand for, and what they would do once elected (I think at the time there were 5 parties in attendence. The Liberals, the Conservatives, the National Democrats, the Green - in the US that stands for the marijuana party, in Canada, it was the environmental party, and one other whose name I don't remember).
And then it was time for the students to gather if they had a question at the microphones that were set up.
And many of us stood up to do so. This went on about an hour and I was one of the last standing in line.
My question was "You've talked about the military, about the economy, and about jobs, but I'd like to know what your party plans to do about the environment".
Three of the parties said nothing at all, but the two main parties each spoke.
The first parties candidate stood up and said "Well that was a stupid and useless question. It has no impact on anything. Why don't you ask something more intelligent?" and then he sat down. Yes, word for word. I remember it like it was yesterday in spite of the fact that it was 22 years ago because it was so utterly unexpected.
I was shocked and kind of hurt, and the whole gym went completely silent with mouths falling open in surprise at this incredible rudeness from an official running for mayor.
The second parties candidate stood up and said directly to him "Well that was just plain mean. You don't have the right to call anyone or their question stupid. It was an honest question that deserves an honest answer." And then he actually answered my question politely and with excellent detail what his parties plans were for the future. Incidentally, most of what he talked about that day actually did happen in the future, though some of it took decades to accomplish.
This would have occurred in 1991. It's most notable because it set my political path for the rest of my life though I won't state categorically what it is so as to avoid fratching possibilities.
It was the custom in my city at the time that every time there was an upcoming election, they would at some point have all the candidates come to the high school. They would gather all us kids in the gym, and we'd have a chance to speak to them.
Each candidate for the different parties would stand up and speak in a very general way about what they stand for, and what they would do once elected (I think at the time there were 5 parties in attendence. The Liberals, the Conservatives, the National Democrats, the Green - in the US that stands for the marijuana party, in Canada, it was the environmental party, and one other whose name I don't remember).
And then it was time for the students to gather if they had a question at the microphones that were set up.
And many of us stood up to do so. This went on about an hour and I was one of the last standing in line.
My question was "You've talked about the military, about the economy, and about jobs, but I'd like to know what your party plans to do about the environment".
Three of the parties said nothing at all, but the two main parties each spoke.
The first parties candidate stood up and said "Well that was a stupid and useless question. It has no impact on anything. Why don't you ask something more intelligent?" and then he sat down. Yes, word for word. I remember it like it was yesterday in spite of the fact that it was 22 years ago because it was so utterly unexpected.
I was shocked and kind of hurt, and the whole gym went completely silent with mouths falling open in surprise at this incredible rudeness from an official running for mayor.
The second parties candidate stood up and said directly to him "Well that was just plain mean. You don't have the right to call anyone or their question stupid. It was an honest question that deserves an honest answer." And then he actually answered my question politely and with excellent detail what his parties plans were for the future. Incidentally, most of what he talked about that day actually did happen in the future, though some of it took decades to accomplish.
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