Broken zippers and the world order

“We are in the midst of a rupture, not a transition,” Carney said at Davos.  I’m worried I’ll have to throw my winter boots away if I can’t fix their broken zippers, I think at home. 

“We know the old order is not coming back. We shouldn’t mourn it.” Carney said. I think I can get them fixed at the tailors; they’re not dead yet.

Last week Canada and China agreed to a trade deal. Electric vehicles for us and Canola and fish for them. “We take the world as it is, not as we wish it to be,” Carney said. Hoping I was anywhere else but in Toronto in January, I dig my car out of two feet of snow. I need to fix those old boots but traffic on Oakwood is heavier than usual. When I finally get to Canada Tailoring, there’s no parking spots anywhere.

Since it’s not working out, I make the best of a bad situation and drive to the Salvation Army on St. Clair West.  At least I can drop off a couple of bags of hand-me downs I have stored in the trunk for two weeks. Now Trump is threatening another trade war with Canada. “If Canada makes a deal with China, it will immediately be hit with a 100% tariffs against all Canadian goods and products coming into the U.S.A.,” he posted on Truth Social.

I make my way back to Oakwood Village. I still can’t get to the tailor. This no-parking situation is driving me nuts. The Canadian Armed Forces are preparing for a U.S. invasion. They don’t think they could stop U.S. forces at the border so they’re focusing on insurgency tactics instead.  

At least I can drop off the clean tablecloths and the detergent at my shop on Dufferin while traffic subsides. There’s so much snow to shovel on the sidewalk and at the back. I remind myself: bend the knees! It’s the first time in 100 years that Canada’s military has created a model to counteract an American attack, turning Canadian soldiers into guerilla fighters.

I rush back to the tailor but it’s too late; he’s closed.

It’s going to be a long winter.