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Growing up, I sort of assumed that by the time I had kids, I wouldn’t even have to answer questions about interracial dating or same-sex marriage.  I guess I had hoped that as a society we would have come far enough to look past all that, and to let people date/love/marry whoever the right person is for them, their true love; “The One” (if they were lucky enough to find that person).

After reading about North Carolina’s vote to ban same-sex marriages, it’s incredibly obvious to me that everyone isn’t moving in the same direction, things aren’t evolving as quickly as I would have hoped, and it’s only a matter of time before my wife and I will be fielding questions about these types of topics.  Don’t get me wrong, I’m not naive enough to believe that everywhere had come as far as my home town (Toronto), one of the most multi-cultural cities in the world, where they also host a huge annual gay pride event.  I know that there are many places in this world that still consider interracial or same-sex relationships to be taboo/illegal, but I always just thought of these places as being behind the times, a little old fashioned or slow to accept change.  What shocked me, was that there are places that are flat out, actively going in the opposite direction; they aren’t slow to change, they are bringing in new laws to ban progress and acceptance of others.

With recent events in mind, I paused to think about what I will say to my children on the day they ask, “Is same-sex dating/marriage wrong?”.  My short answer will be “no, but many people still feel it is”.  My long answer, the one they will probably zone out through (and maybe you will too), will be:

It’s hard enough to find “The One”.  To find a person in this world that you want to wake up next to every morning for the rest of your life, a person that you want to raise children with, travel with, talk through the night with, celebrate/laugh/cry with, who’s smile brightens up your whole day, a person you dream about growing old with and can’t imagine your life without; to find that person, is hard enough.  When you find that person, your soul-mate, “The One”, fight for them.  Don’t let race, sexuality, age, distance, weight, other people’s opinions or any other obstacle impact your decision or get in the way of being happy with that person…it’s hard enough find “The One”.

I don’t expect that everyone will agree with my opinion, in fact, I’m sure that there are many people who very strongly disagree.  Agree or disagree, when the day comes, what will you tell your children?

In particular, this is for the woman who tried to kill me yesterday by driving straight into the roundabout, looking to the right, completely oblivious of the cars already in the roundabout (me).

*** Roundabout Demo ***

More info on how to use roundabouts:

1. Approach

• Reduce your speed.
• Watch for signs that may help you find your exit.
• Watch for people using the crosswalk, and be ready to stop.

2. Yield

• Yield to traffic already in the roundabout that comes from your immediate left before you enter.

3. Enter

• Enter the roundabout to your right (a counter clockwise direction) when there is a gap in traffic and you feel it is safe to do so.
• Continue until you reach your exit.

4. Exit

• Never come to a full stop in a roundabout unless traffic conditions require it.
• Use your right turn signal to let other road users know where you plan to exit.
• Exit at a slow speed.
• As you exit, watch for people using the crosswalk, and be ready to stop.
• If you miss your exit, keep going around the roundabout until you reach it again.