Grab bag

It's a Friday night and I'm half watching CBC Newsworld (first Ebola case in NYC) and half preparing for an upcoming draft in my sim hockey league.

A few quick hits...

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At 7/11 today after work, I was standing in line when the two Filipino workers behind the counter briefly spoke to each other in their own language. An ignorant clown behind me proceeded to say:

"I take it as an offence when they don't speak English in front of us. We're at war. They could be talking about secrets."

I am going to attempt to list the number of things wrong with this statement.

1) They were FILIPINO workers. Are we at war with the Philippines?

2) We are not at war with anyone, unless you count a few air strikes against ISIS in Iraq.

3) Even if the workers were Arabic Muslims, they are not ISIS members. That would be like saying all Christians are members of the KKK or Westboro Baptist Church. Enough with the guilt by association, which is not really even association at all.

4) Even if the workers WERE somehow ISIS members planted in a convenience store in the middle of the Canadian Prairies, why would they be discussing secrets? What secrets would they be discussing? A suicide bomb attack in the middle of the 7/11 in the 253,284th biggest municipality in Canada?

5) Michael Zehaf-Bibeau had no links to ISIS. He was a 32-year-old loser from Quebec who acted alone.

All you can do is shake your head at the alarming level of ignorance.

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There probably weren't a lot of dry eyes along the Highway of Heroes in Ontario today as the body of Cpl. Nathan Cirillo was transported to his hometown of Hamilton. The pictures on Twitter of people on overpasses with Canadian flags were just amazing. We see the best of Canadians in our worst moments.

As more details come out about what exactly happened in the Centre Block on Wednesday, it gets more surreal. Harper in a broom closet. MPs making spears out of flagpoles. Kevin Vickers diving and shooting the gunman like something out of a James Bond movie. Multiple bullet holes in the Hall of Honour and the doors leading to the caucus rooms and Library of Parliament. All of it is so, so crazy to think about.

This was nothing compared to the Boston bombings, but we're seeing the country rise up in the aftermath, just like Boston did. It's a cool thing to witness. Not to mention the gestures from south of the border, including the Pittsburgh Penguins having the Canadian anthem sung before their game against Philly. It's been quite something.

Speaking of which, you can't say enough about the heroism of the people who tried to save Cirillo's life. They didn't know if there was a second shooter. They didn't know anything. They just ran toward the gunfire to help. The story of the lawyer who told him how much his family loved him is a real tearjerker.

Not to assign blame in the midst of all this, but I'm still amazed by how easily the gunman got in. Not so much that he ran into the Centre Block with a rifle, but he had just discharged it three times, no more than 300 yards away. Didn't people hear it? Didn't anyone see him run from there, steal a car and run up onto the lawn on the Hill? There was no police movement until he stole the ministerial car at the East Block.

Finally, can we stop with the "Canada will never be the same" stuff? We weren't innocent before this. And things are already much back to the same, except for Cirillo's family.

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In four days, I leave for Columbus, Ohio to see my two best friends in the world. Also going to see the Blue Jackets play the Leafs on Halloween. I've been counting down the days. Can't wait. The three of us don't get together often (last time was a road trip from Toronto to PEI last summer). I also haven't seen my best friend's baby yet (born in December). It's going to be legendary.