Last Friday evening into early yesterday morning, or later on the next few weekends, people will be taking part in the Canadian Cancer Society’s “Relay for Life”. It’s an inspiring, tiring, and often poignant night.

I was in a couple of Relays in recent years. In the first we met at a sports site with a track in back of Yarmouth, pitched a tent in a grassy field with dozens and dozens of others, and were fascinated immediately by the experienced teams who arrived more ready for the event than our team of novice teachers: wild costumes, signs, banners, and enough camping equipment to make the night really special even for those not on the track. We made vows to get more “geared up” the next year.

If you’re not familiar with the relays, the procedure is that you have to form a team of at least ten, and be prepared to have at least one member of the team (usually a few) walking on the track at all times for the next 12 hours– generally from 8 p.m. until morning. Each team member has to raise at least $100 in pledges. We fudged things a bit, since some of us knew that staying awake all night would play havoc with our sleep cycles, and since about half of our team lived in the Yarmouth area and half back here in Barrington. We set up a system where the Barrington bunch started off the night, and about 2 a.m. the Yarmouth half, having grabbed at least a nap or two, arrived as relief and allowed us to get home and to bed by about 3 a.m.

We had to arrive early. Although the Relay portion started about 8 p.m., there were “opening ceremonies” and special events before we started. These were not boring “I’d just as soon not be there” formalities; in fact, the late shift people were somewhat disappointed not to be on hand for them. Some of the speakers were recovered cancer patients, a few seemingly snatched back from the brink of death, and some some spoke in honor of people who were stalwarts in the Relays of the past, but during the last year the fight they thought they might win had turned against them.
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I know that the Baby Boomers like myself have been controlling most of western society for the last decades, and I know that we have also been controlling much of the radio airwaves for a while as well, resulting in the abundance of “easy listening”, “gold rock”, and similar approaches to programming as an attempt to please us, but to be honest, judging from the irritating stuff from our local stations in this area, I thought the effect was fading.

No so, it seems. Either we still hold tremendous sway or are dragging a lot of younger people with us for the musical ride.

Witness the excitement over Paul McCartney possibly playing an outdoor concert at the Halifax Commons this summer. Witness the excitement over the Eagles playing outdoors at Moncton this summer. Witness the attendance figures of the Rolling Stones concerts in Moncton and Halifax in the last couple of years.

Are there no music stars able to draw these kinds of crowds from the younger artists? Or are the younger artists just not interested in grassy fields in Maritime cities?

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A couple of weeks ago I took on a part-time job for Google– actually it’s for a company that contracts work for Google. Unfortunately, I don’t get the corporate benefits that they apparently do at places like their Google Mountain View California headquarters, where staff enjoy a workout room with weights and rowing machine, locker rooms, washers and dryers, massage room, assorted video games, Foosball, baby grand piano, pool table, ping pong, roller hockey twice a week in the parking lot, and a cafeteria described as having “healthy lunches and dinners for all staff, with outdoor seating for sunshine daydreaming”. And, if that is just normal, consider the rumored Google policy that no ones workstation will be more than fifty feet from a snack cart or room, where you can access “bins packed with various cereals, gummi bears, M&Ms, toffee, licorice, cashew nuts, yogurt, carrots, fresh fruit and other snacks, plus dozens of different drinks including fresh juice, soda and make-your-own cappuccino.”

Certainly you can’t imagine a more pleasant workplace, except the thoughts wander easily to visualizing 300 pound people walking about the halls, unless the roller hockey and workout room copes with that issue.
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