The gas price game

Please don’t run away when you see the word COVID. I promise that I am not going to go off on the whole thing. Not getting into masks or lock downs or this doctor over that doctor. I am just going to laugh at two of the brand new relaxations that the Alberta government has blessed us peasants with.

It reminds me a lot of the gasoline prices. You know, how they raise the price so high that everyone gets angry, then stomp their feet and yell to skies. Soon the price drops a little bit and we are happy. We celebrate the discount and forget that it is still higher than it was, only a few months ago.

Due to popular demand the gyms are now open. The public celebrated and waited for Feb. 8 to arrive. However, when reading the rules, we learn that this is really not much of a change at all.

While the gyms are open, you can only go with a one-on-one trainer. The gym is not open to the public to walk in and use their paid memberships. We do not get to go in and use the elliptical machines or the weights.

We are blessed with the opportunity to book and pay a personal trainer in order to enter the gym. Hmm, this does not seem right at all.

The second one that made me say, hmmmm is the wonderful news that school sports can now begin. The only exceptions are that teams cannot practice and cannot compete with other teams. (Whaaaa?!)

Hey, they can play sports in their gym class. Yes, the high school kids can gather in the gymnasium, about 25 or more at a time and play basketball. This fits within the curriculum, with their teacher telling them what to do. However, 15 of those kids can’t go later to that same gymnasium and play basketball with their team, with their coach telling them what to do.

Not much logic there, but hey, we’re used to that.

But we are happy, because the proverbial gas price has been lowered slightly.

We were hit hard, so that we would be happy when they claimed to ease up. But that was only a claim, not a reality.

So, thank you government for the open gym that we cannot use, and a bigger thank you for opening the school sports that we cannot compete in. Ugh.

Kenton Shilka has been an active community member for 23 years and counting. His column, Another Thought Coming, will run each Tuesday.