There is terror in Canada. We all know it and now it has hit us twice in the same week.

Back in September my parents and I were at the Blue Jay game at the Skydome (I know, I know Rogers Centre). As we approached gate 13 area where we usually go in, we stopped to get our hot dogs at our usual vendor.

While waiting in line we noticed that there were more Jays staff/security around the gates. We didn’t know what it was about, but as we walked closer to the gates we saw that there were xray machines, and that was what was taking the extra time and the extra staff. The signs said that they were getting ready for the 2015 season.

My mom and I approached a police officer and he commented that Toronto was the last major league stadium to install the machines.

Then he said something interesting to us. He said that Canadians are very unaware of what is going on in our country. That there are more terrorist cells in Canada than there are in the United States. He went on to say, that it would only be a matter of time.

And so here we are. Social media, and all the news outlets are all focused on Ottawa today and Montreal as well. I just read one article headline that said, how safe are we that a lone gunmen can get right up to these men and shoot at close range.

We are changed. Terror keeps getting closer and closer to us.

I don’t even really know what else to say. My thoughts and prayers are with the family of Nathan Cirillo.

For those of you who may not know, I am on the board at my condo. It is a volunteer position which has very little “gratitude” involved. We attend meetings, make multi-million dollar decisions for the community in which we live in. Being on a voluntary board of any kind is not a small task. You are often questioned about decisions, people knock on your door with questions, people who really shouldn’t have your phone number but do (for other reasons) call to ask you questions. But, I am on the board for many reasons. One of which is to be a part of the process of what goes on in community living.

Our building is not very old, just over eight years to be correct. The builder (as in a lot of cases) did a very “minimal” job with the carpets in our building. We have many pets in our community and within this short period of time, the carpets have been destroyed. If you have come to visit me, you may have noticed while walking down the hall.

So, as the board we had to interview design firms and choose one to work with. We did that.

We also went and toured several other sites with the pending teams to see their work in person and not just in a power point presentation. We did that.

We went through several months of carpet samples, wall paper samples, colour schemes to come up with two options to present to the community.

Last night was the presentation meeting to show them the concept boards and samples. If you live in a condo, or ever attend any types of community meetings you know how they go. It is like the 80/20 rule. Twenty percent of the people cause 80% of the trouble. No different here. But for me, last night, was more personal. In light of the recent bullying I was talking about a few weeks ago, my senses are heightened and I am much more aware of how people speak to others. I can’t understand it.

Our board president spoke eloquently and passionate about the building. That we need this renovation and the process that we took as the board to get us to that night. She introduced the designer to the group of residents in the room. She started her presentation. She really couldn’t even get through the presentation to showcase the true beauty of what we all had chosen for the building. She was berated, yelled at, questioned and I do not like to overuse this word, but abused by total strangers.

Towards the end of the meeting, I actually had to step in and stop the meeting. I told her to step aside. I said to the residents, that the meeting will not continue if you continue to be abusive and rude to our guest. That was the end of the formal meeting. But it didn’t end there. One of the men came up to me and started in on me. He actually said, “I don’t believe you did…” I called over the designer and said, this man just called me a liar, would you care to tell him what actually happened. He said, I never called you a liar. I replied, “you said you didn’t believe me” it is the same thing.

I live in this community. Communities are made up of different groups of people, from different countries, different socio-economic backgrounds, and everything in between, but there seems to be a lack of the basics I am finding, on a more general level in today’s world. People have less patience, more “balls” to say whatever is on their mind without any thought of recourse. People are rude and abusive daily, from my recent experiences. I can go on and on about this but I am not going to.

I think I will leave it with one final thought. We don’t always hear the answers we want to hear, or accept the options provided, or feel that maybe we weren’t heard. Life is not black or white, it is probably at least fifty shades of grey. If everyone took a breath BEFORE they spoke, or replied, or commented on something, and thought about that, maybe there would be less verbal abuse in our communities today.

Something to think about as you all start your day today. Lisa

We know about school yard bullies – kids that don’t play well with others, pick on those who may be not as strong or agile as they are, or in the classroom to those who may not be as wise as another child.

We know about cyber bullying – those who use social media to attack others. A lot of the time it is because they can be ‘anonymous’ and you criticize others, be rude, mean and abusive because, hey, it’s the internet. I can hide behind my computer and say what I want, what are you going to do to me?

And then there are those who take to the phones to be bullies. You know, the ones that don’t hear the answer they are looking for, or have been hung up on by someone else and then you are the next point of contact. For whatever their reasons could be, they turn to behavior that I would consider to be more than just bullying, but abusive.

Recently I have had experience with phone bullying. I am not sure what sets people off to behave in a way that would bring someone to tears. To be yelled at in such a way that you can’t even complete a sentence and have a conversation. To make you shake and be uncertain of what to do next. To be sworn at and then hung up on. That one I felt was cowardly, tell someone to F-off and then hang up on them. You are the big girl on the playground that needs the last word.

I wonder if these phone bullies have children? What messages are they sending to them? What messages were they taught as children? I wonder. I just do.