g's blog 'o wonders

How’s she goin, b’y?

January 13, 2011 at 10:22 am (music, subculture) (Cape Breton, nova scotia)

I’m going to interrupt the BeerBlog for a minute and ramble about something.
It’s been pointed out to me again recently that Cape Bretoners are weird.
The wonderfully talented Carmen Townsend and the Shakey Deals played a show here this week. Being a fan/friend of the drummer/Caper in Van, I put on my band t-shirt, took my Cape Breton flag off the wall, put it on like a cape and went to the show.
I fully expected that there would be a small herd of Capers there with mainlander friends in tow (which is what I had done). I know how awesome the band is and knew that people would respond well to a rock show like this. I also knew that even though I didn’t know any of the others from home going to the show, I’d still be able to talk to them and chat.
An example. I was sitting with my friends when a guy came running up to my table and asked “OK! So who here is Baby Jungle?*” to which I replied “Me! But I’m actually Older Jungle. You’re Ryan!” and he gave me a big hug and we talked for a bit.
*Jungle is my brother’s nickname. We’re big on nicknames at home.
Ryan said that he had been talking to Jungle that day and was told that he had to find me and give me a hug. I gladly accepted and we got on like old friends who hadn’t seen each other for a while. My friends found it kind of odd. Our “patriotism” is strange to people not from CB. I was questioned as to why we do this, what is the “Cape Breton thing”, why do we forge connections with total strangers based simply on the place we live(d)? Other parts of the country don’t do this (aside from perhaps Newfoundlanders). I cannot give a definite answer as I cannot speak for all of us, but I have my theories.

We, as east coasters, have to deal with our fair share of stereotyping. Here is a list of some of the comments I’ve heard over the years regarding NS/CB/NL.
“Well, you’re all poor out here so you can’t travel and you don’t know anything about world cultures”
“Wait, you’re not all poor fishermen?”
“You’re just a bunch of unemployed alcoholics/fishermen/uneducated hicks”
“Nova Scotia and Newfoundland are the same thing. No really, they are”
“I thought everyone out here played fiddles and stuff and lived on boats”
and so forth. Most of these came from people from Ontario and Alberta. When I lived in Alberta, I was given SUCH shit for my accent and had to deal with a barrage of “Newfie” jokes (despite only being a Newf by heritage) and actually got into an argument over the geographical locations of both NS and NL (people still refuse to believe that they are in fact 2 SEPARATE PROVINCES). I heard so many mangled attempts at mimicking my accent, lobster jokes and references to being stupid and “on pogey” (which I still hear in Vancouver and honestly, it’s not funny anymore). When I was at university, a good number of students from Ontario were surprised to find out that yes, we are in fact rather educated, speak English (and sometimes French/Gaelic) fluently and were not all children of retarded alcoholic fishermen.

I grew up in CB in the 80s-90s. I am clearly too young to remember the heydays of the steel/coal industries, but I distinctly remember the economical climate after those industries crumbled. To say it was not good is an understatement and the economy at home is still highly sub-par. However, I’m willing to bet that the vast majority of those who have secure employment in CB are quite grateful for it, no matter how shitty that job may be. It can be hard to get by, and I know many families, even years ago, who had members go elsewhere to find work and sent money home. Because of that economic downturn, yes, many people are far from rich, but it doesn’t mean that everyone is poor. We did (and still do) the best with what we can. It’s a small area, so a lot of people just ended up doing the same things and going to the same places for years. We’ve got shared experiences that will connect us.

We’ve had to grow up and live in an area with a struggling economy, that has some of the highest cancer rates in the country, and that’s home to one of the country’s biggest and grossest toxic waste sites. However, it’s also home to one of the biggest Celtic music festivals in the world, some of the most amazing scenery in Canada, epic weather bombs (White Juan, anyone?), our own tartan, our own flag, Gaelic/English road signs, fabulous beer, kitchen parties and a staggeringly impressive music scene. I am incredibly proud of the bands and singers and writers and performers from CB that have had success and have “made it” on a national/international scale, and I am just as proud of bands and singers and writers and performers that are making a name for themselves on a local level.

So this is what I think it comes down to. That Cape Breton thing. We’ve all had to deal with the stupid stereotype comments at some point. We know the same scenery. The same landmarks. The same local historical events (The last time the Oilers won the Calder Cup, when John Morris Rankin passed, the McDonalds Murders, the Cabot Trail, Mira Gut, Ingonish, Mabou, Inverness Beach, the Causeway, Tim Horton’s). We all know what it’s like to live there. It’s not always fun, it’s not always pretty, it’s not always exciting, it’s far from perfect, but it’s home. It will always be home. When we’re out, away from home, meeting someone from CB is almost like having a little piece of home returned to you. It’s nice to hear the accent, to talk about home and just chat with someone who, at a very base level, understands the culture the way you do.