The song goes ‘You Can’t Always Get What You Want’ – ain’t that the truth.
When I was five years old going to Grade 1 at St. Luke’s all I wanted was to wear a pair of jeans to school. It was a Catholic school, complete with a school uniform, but the tartan kilt and yellow turtleneck sweater were remnants of bygone days. Everyone wore jeans… except for our family. Because that’s how they did things in Scotland and my mum still hadn’t settled into life in the New World. Oh, how I longed for a pair of jeans and the chance to be just like everyone else.
When I was seven all I wanted was a T-shirt with my name in felt letters across the back.
When I was eight I wanted desperately to have my ears pierced.
When I was 10 I wanted to be Bobby Ewing’s wife in Dallas.
But, it’s a cruel world, and I learned quickly that even when you try, sometimes you just can’t get what you want.
Since I moved to Whistler it seems as though my want list has been getting bigger and bigger. Instead of renting a small one-bedroom apartment in Emerald, I want a house on Green Lake complete with media room. (I had no idea what a media room was until I moved to Whistler. We always called the room with the TV the family room). Instead of a special birthday treat at the spa, I want weekly massages and facials at the Chateau. Instead of my two-year old snowboard with gouges on the side, I want a new Option board for the season, and why not throw in some new pants and a warmer jacket while we’re on the subject. And hey, I wouldn’t scoff at a new car to replace my bus pass.
Sadly, the list goes on.
Living in Whistler, rubbing shoulders with some of the richest people in the world, it’s easy to want more things, bigger stuff, better gear. It’s even harder not to get pissed off about the fact that while you’re living paycheque to paycheque trying to figure out how to pay the bills, someone else is living the high life trying to figure out how to hide another 1,000 square feet with hidden walls and fake floors in their 5,000 square foot home.
And is it just me or does the gap between rich and poor seem to be morphing into a gaping black hole? It seems like the mansions on the hills are getting more lavish, just as the rents in the back of the Pique for lifties, front desk people, store clerks and the rest of us keep climbing. Does everyone think that it’s natural to live in a room with four other people, and still pay $500 each?
But I digress. Contrary to the first half of this column, I didn’t really want to complain about my lot of life in this Pique N Yer Interest. Instead, I wanted to talk about my feelings of jealousy in light of where we’re living.
I believe that it’s virtually impossible to live here, amid such obvious wealth and riches, and not covet what you see around you – the Porsche SUVs, the holidays in Hawaii, the $5 million homes, the trips to the spa, the idyll days on the mountain, those media rooms.
Sometimes it can make you sick with envy, knowing how highly unlikely it is that this could be your life too.
It can make you greedy.
But more often than not it simply highlights the huge disparities between the haves and the have-nots and just makes you depressed and unsatisfied with your lot in life. Why would you live in place where you are constantly reminded of how little you have and how far away you are from getting a small piece of the pie?
When that happens it’s time to kick back and take a deep breath, and think about why you’re in Whistler.
Here’s a few simple things to remember after a hard day’s work building a walk-in closet the size of your apartment or serving the rich guy on the patio who lives in a multi-million dollar home but can’t tip 15 per cent.
Remember – Somebody always has a better mountain bike, a cooler snowboard, a fatter set of skis. This is the eternal truth. When I was eight I had a blue banana seat bike with multi-coloured tassels streaming from the handlebars. I dreamed of riding a cherry red 10-speed bike through the neighbourhood like my friend Nicole. When I finally got the 10-speed, we started rollerskating everywhere.
Remember – Money doesn’t buy happiness. It sure as hell can make life a whole lot easier but not necessarily happier. Just look at Mr. Burns. He’s not happy. Give me a hard life with moments of happiness any day over an easy life that’s just plain old bland. There’s no point living here being miserable eating Kraft Dinner every night when you can move somewhere else, be miserable and dine on filet mignon.
Remember– It is fair. A lot of those people have worked long and hard for their money and they deserve holidays, and nice cars and fancy homes.
Remember – You choose to live in Whistler. No one is keeping you here against your will. There are ramifications with that choice. While you may live in the most beautiful place in Canada, it’s also one of the most expensive. So while it’s true that groceries and gas are off the charts, it’s also true that you can choose to ski on the best mountains in the world on any given day. How many other people have that choice?
Remember – You’re living in Whistler, for crying out loud. You may not be able to own a piece of land here in your lifetime but they can’t sell your views. You can still get that warm fuzzy feeling in the pit of your stomach as you watch the fiery alpine glow over Blackcomb in the winter. Or get the gnawing excitement as Wedge gets its first visible snow dumps and you just know that soon you’ll be tech washing your gear, waxing your board and trying to figure out how you’re going to afford your pass.
So while we may not have the big homes, the fancy cars, the life of luxury, neither do most other people in the world. Remember – this is Whistler; this is not the norm. Average rules do not apply.
