My Christmas wish list to the big guy in red looks a little different this year. Instead of an iPhone or a new pair of skis, or anything else that can be wrapped or put under the tree, I’ve asked for a few things that might make things a little better for everybody.
Here is my list to Santa:
I wish for peace on Earth, and that aggressors lay down their arms and compromise with their enemies.
I wish not a single soul has to go hungry, and that food can be provided for everybody.
I wish we could all spend a day at the International Space Station, and look out over the little blue planet we’ve all been entrusted with.
I wish Steve Jobs didn’t die. But I’m glad Muammar Qaddafi did.
I wish Peter Kent would just admit Canada is failing by not signing Kyoto, and that Justin Trudeau would bite his tongue the next time he feels the need to swear in parliament.
I wish Sidney Crosby’s head was feeling better.
I wish a Toronto school didn’t have to ban schoolyard balls.
I wish we had a coalition federal government where the Conservatives looked after finances, NDP looked after the environment, and the Liberals looked after whatever it is Liberals are good at.
I wish people would take a good, hard look at their car and realize the damage it does and the money it consumes.
I wish advertising was more honest.
I wish animals had more rights and protection, and as stewards we tried a little harder to appreciate their place in the environment.
I wish everybody could climb a mountain just once to see how it feels to get to the top.
I wish corporations all the success in making a profit, but use some of those profits to everyone’s benefit.
I wish Gilligan’s Island lasted more than three seasons. I wish reality TV didn’t.
I wish deniers of climate change would just admit they’re wrong.
I wish the Detroit Lions, for whom I’ve cheered for since 1985, would end the misery and win the Super Bowl.
I wish everybody would do one thing each day that scares them just a little bit.
I wish we had the foresight to leave things in better shape than how we found them.
I wish Enbridge would invest billions of dollars in renewable energy rather than an oil pipeline that would thread through some of the most incredible ecosystems in the world on B.C.’s northern coast.
I wish people would stop calling water a renewable resource.
I wish crap wasn’t king.
I wish time would slow down.
I wish people would stop dumping trash in Nanaimo’s back 40.
I wish Nanaimo residents who were so opposed to low barrier housing in their neighbourhoods take a few moments to meet their new neighbours.
I wish Syria would stop killing its citizens.
I wish adults would listen more to the ideas children have.
I wish more people would give blood (1-888-236-6283).
I wish the poor Oliver, B.C. man who drove his dead wife home from Oregon finds peace.
I wish my neighbourhood had more sidewalks.
I wish people who spend their time helping others got more recognition.
I wish B.C. municipalities could find a better way to deal with urban deer issues than capturing them in a net and putting a bolt in their heads.
I wish politicians would start thinking outside the box.
I wish every child in Nanaimo wakes up to a shiny new present under the tree Christmas morning.
I wish adults could still feel the magic they felt at Christmas when they were kids.
I wish goodwill lasted throughout the year.
But most of all, I wish you a very merry Christmas, and all the best in the new year.
reporter2@nanaimobulletin.com
