(ADAM PROSKIW / iNFOnews.ca)

OPINION

Post-COVID is going great so far, don’t you think?

Nothing to worry about now. Nope, nothing at all.

I was so ready to move on, I went to Mexico for two weeks. You know who’s not ready to travel yet? WestJet. I can’t say that in any universal sense because all I saw was the clusterfornication at the Puerto Vallarta International Airport but if that’s any indication, they’ve achieved the truly unimaginable — made Air Canada a viable option again.

I won’t even complain that they managed to break my suitcase shell in two different places, it was airport operations on the ground there that defied any sense of order. On three separate days, they loaded three planes within an hour of each other. The airport isn’t that big to begin with but imagine a row of people stretched across the departures area nearly three times. And it was the passengers themselves who organized it — good Canadians, I guess, the ones who just expect this kind of service — because there wasn’t a single WestJet employee to help anyone figure it out.

On my flight, we had been in line for an hour and a half to check baggage when two Karens from Foremost, Alberta dragged their sunburnt husbands into their own imaginary line before of course creating chaos as they nudged their way in. We made it through with just enough time to spare but not my wife’s poor parents the day before. They’re nearing their 80s and waited in the line for 2.5 hours before reaching the front only to be told their flight was gone. They declined the $6,000 next day flights and had to stay three more days for the $3,000 option. Guess what they found when they returned? Three flights, all waiting to board at the same time.

Tough, having to stay in PV for three days, I know. But trust me, that’s stress they just don’t need. I heard rumours I couldn’t confirm about WestJet’s operations in Puerto Vallarta and WestJet missed my deadline to respond. Quite simply, there were none. I only saw the baggage handlers at the front of the line. Not a single two-tone blue lanyard anywhere.

Punctuating my vacation, once again, was an international crisis. I was in Las Vegas when swine flu hit North America in 2009, Los Cabos when Sars-Cov-2 was discovered in 2019 and in Guayabitos watching Vladimir Putin attack Ukraine and threaten the world last week. Can’t say it wasn’t stressful, but the news goes down better with a cerveza on a sun-soaked beach than under the winter clouds of Kelowna.

I have no special insight into the conflict but I want to say two things. First is, please don’t view this through social media or at least be careful. It’s mostly fake trash and propaganda from one side or the other. And that should tell you what you need to know about social media, generally. If the social media videos and photos are true, you’ll read them and see them in the New York Times, CNN, The Canadian Press right on this site or just about any credible international news outlet. 

Second is that as much as I am worried for the people in Ukraine, I can’t help wondering about Russians as well. Russians are no strangers to propaganda and in truth, they seem to lap it up. But now Putin has arrested some 7,000 protesters, shut down newspapers, websites and TV stations that stray from his official line that this isn’t a war or an occupation but a “special operation”. Teachers are ordered to indoctrinate children on the subject and rewrite Ukraine’s history while they’re at it. He's got restrictions on dissent across social media channels.

Putin has dropped the cloak of liberty and democracy and has gone full naked authoritarian dictator. That’s not exactly new or even, by all appearances unwelcome to many Russians, but perhaps this time he’s going too far. They will also pay a price for Putin’s actions. Their economy’s tanking, interest rates are through the roof and the ruble is being pummelled. They’re being left out of global events and if sanctions continue, at some point, hopefully they’ll get fed up.

The best way out of this crisis would be for Russians to take care of their own garbage.

— Marshall Jones is the Managing Editor of iNFOnews.ca

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