Each Man Stood at His Post

Each man stood at his post,

while all the weaker ones went by,

and showed once more to all the world,

how Englishmen should die.

 The above is the inscription on the grave marker of Everett Edward Elliot, Titanic crew member, who died in the line of duty during the ship’s sinking.  In a way it speaks to something far bigger, something related to what it means to be human, to do one’s duty, to serve others even when it means sacrificing oneself.

 

(Victorian Gardens, Halifax)

Among the things we did on Thursday, August 13^th was visiting the public cemetery where 150 victims of the Titanic sinking were buried.  Note that many of the grave markers do not list the name of the person buried, as many of the victims remained unidentified.  The fact that these graves exist is a remarkable testimony to the character of Canadians in general, and residents of Halifax in particular, as these graves have been cared for by the community for over 114 years (well before a certain famous movie). 

Our all-day Halifax tour was guided by a wonderful lady who is a retired schoolteacher.  She was funny, well organized, and presented history in the most human of ways.  She was, by far, the best guide we had all week.  If I can find her name, I’ll add it into the post at the end.  One of the things that she told us was how she is a cancer survivor, who received immediate treatment once diagnosed, and paid the grand sum of nothing to become cancer-free. 

This is a reminder that medical debt in the United States is…

1) Real…I have personal experience with it…and…

2) A national disgrace.

This topic crosses party lines, in that there are many politicians that would prefer that you not really spend all that much time thinking about medical debt, thank you very much. 

Back to Halifax, which was in some way a continuation, at a significantly larger scale, of what we experienced in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island.  By this I mean it was impeccably clean (for Halifax, a city of more than 500,000, that’s something of a feat), the few locals we encountered were very friendly, and there was this sense of community responsibility.  Another example, in addition to the public cemetery that we visited, was a beautiful public Victorian Gardens, which the community helps tend to during the growing season.  The place looked like it would never exist in that form if it were anywhere else in the world.

Another location visited in Nova Scotia was Peggy’s Cove, which is one of the more well-known tourist attractions in Nova Scotia.  Worth a visit, but it’s important to wear good shoes while there.  Speaking of there, Ms. Rivers and I are absolutely certain that we will return to Halifax at some point in the future, maybe post-retirement.  There’s a lot to do and see in that you get the combination of a large city and, after about a 30-minute drive, you end up in a picturesque place that would be just like rural Maine. 

As I write this (Thursday evening…posting it will likely be some time tomorrow, which would be Friday the 14^th), we are out to sea, in route to our final stop on the cruise, Portland, Maine.  We’ve driven through Portland on other Maine trips, but never really stopped there.  This leg of the trip will take us back to the U.S. and Eastern Standard Time all in one fell swoop.  Unlike other stops, we aren’t doing any tours/excursions, as we can always come back to Portland at some point in the future anyway.  Instead, Ms. Rivers and I just identified a few things we wanted to see in town.  Post Portland, it’s off to the end of the cruise at Boston and a flight back to Philadelphia. 

Will it be good to be back in the United States?  Well, at least for me, I would phrase it as “it will be good to get home”.  Unless you’ve traveled outside the United States lately, you probably haven’t experienced an environment where you are not bombarded constantly by the negativity that comes with the current climate of the U.S. I know that some folks have different strategies for dealing with this…some, for example, just pretend that nothing bad is happening in the country…others simply don’t care unless it creates something bad that directly impacts them…but both strategies are deeply flawed at a most human, moral level.  The fact is that we should care about others, even those others who look and sound differently than we do.  Why?  This is what separates us from other animals, this is what makes us fully human.  This is what Everett Edward Elliot understood.

On a related note, yes, vacationing is nice, and taking a cruise is certainly full of pleasantries, but cruising is just not something I think I’d like to do all that frequently.  Part of it is just the sheer logistics of it all…a lot of planning, passports, etc.  Another part is that I’m not overly comfortable with being waited on to the degree that cruise ship staff excel.  I get it…it’s their job…but being constantly served for me is awkward and I dislike the feeling of entitlement that goes with it.  Bottom line?  If I were on a cruise every few years that would be just fine. 

On that note, I think I’ve cleared my mental deck, so it’s time to wrap this up.