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But instead, you had to go to the Dominican Republic, eh? As if that country didn't have enough problems, already. I'll get back to this.

Over a month ago, my wife and I decided to go on vacation. We'd been through a very tough year, which included one major surgery each, my changing jobs three times, and both of us moving out of our apartment, due to Airbnb doom that had turned our once happy building into hooker central station. Being so exhausted and needing to relax, we did something we normally avoid: we made reservations at a big, all-inclusive resort. We picked a room in La Romana, Dominican Republic.

A few days before our departure, though, my wife found a news article about American tourists dying at a seemingly alarming rate precisely in La Romana (not at our resort) and a couple more places on the island. What to do, what to do? I started monitoring the web for more news. As days went by, our worries grew: more and more tourists suddenly recalled their own stories about getting sick there and surviving by a miracle. American media went into a frenzy, and Canadian media seemed to follow suit. We even considered canceling our vacation, although that would mean no refund.

But then it dawned on me that we were probably just letting irrational thoughts manipulate our minds. Two main points puzzled me: first off, no correlation was being found among the deaths, other than perhaps adulterated liquor from the minibar of a single resort, which would have maybe linked three deaths to each other. And second, why were people suddenly recalling being sick there? Could that be due to simple suggestion? Rather than listening to random, panicky reports, I got myself informed and reasoned as such:

1) Last year, 14 American tourists died in Canada (that's almost twice as many as the current count in the Dominican Republic), yet nobody is calling for an investigation against us

2) Well over 2.5 million Americans (and about 4 million more from the rest of the world) travel to the Dominican Republic every year and make it safely back home

3) As far as I could tell, most tourists who died had serious preexisting conditions. It doesn't really matter whether or not their doctors told them they could go on vacation: when you have a heart condition, and/or are obese, and/or you're on heavy medications, you're always at risk

4) No matter the frenzy, the US was NOT (still isn't!) recommending against travelling to the island

5) I had a very strong suspicion that at least some of these people, by simple stats, had acted like plenty of tourists do on vacation: they ate too much, drank too much alcohol and not enough water, got severely sunburnt, and kept going from extreme heat at the beach to extreme cold in their rooms.

Long story short, I announced to my wife that there may be some truth to the adulterated alcohol, so we could simply avoid drinking from our minibar, drink little alcohol in general, and monitor how we felt, at least in the beginning. She agreed and we both decided to stop worrying while sticking to our plan.

Enter madam "I could have went to Greece" and all her cohort: as we boarded the plane (around 8 AM), alcohol started flowing. Within an hour, the woman sitting in front of me had already gobbled down a glass of wine and a can of beer. Now, if you think that having so much alcohol by 9 in the morning is normal, I've got news for you: either you've lived under a rock your entire life or you're most definitely an alcoholic. By the time we landed, a good number of people were clearly on the happy drunk side of life. When we got to the resort, we were welcomed with more alcohol, which we put down two seconds later, almost untouched. By the end of the day, guess what? We noticed lots of people who were eating like pigs, drinking like crazy, had serious weight and health problems, and acted like they didn't.

In the end, we spent an amazing week there - as a matter of fact, it was one of the best holidays of my life. We were very much pampered, the staff was professional, courteous, and went always the extra mile for us. The beach was gorgeous, the ocean was nice, the snorkeling was fun, the food was good, and the little alcohol we had (too hot to drink!) was fine. Full disclaimer: we didn't always drink enough water and we got nicely sunburnt, but that was absolutely nothing out of the ordinary.

You know when trouble came? When we flew back to Montreal. There was a huge storm over the area, so we were forced to land in Toronto, instead, and fly back home the next day. As we were circling over the city, the drunkards and the stupid all came to life: they started screaming against the crew, adamantly stating that the airline had planned for that mess right from the start (they wouldn't explan why, of course), and demanding a huge refund. The level of "smartness" is fully encapsulated in what "madam Greece" screamed at the top of her lungs, dramatically trying to convince every single passenger that it takes about 6 hours to fly to Greece from Canada, which is an obvious lie. The same lady and another group of five idiots proceeded then to make phone calls, exchange text messages, and even browse the web during our descent to Toronto, because of course safety is just not an issue to certain douchebags.

So, my plea to you: avoid giving in to a panic that is seriously hurting the economy of a friendly, amazing country like the Dominican Republic. Be wary of sensationalism, take things with a grain of salt, and, if at all possible, be a smart tourist!

Still not convinced? I'm sure these articles will put things into perspective for you:

Tourist Trap

Media frenzy over Dominican Republic deaths causing more harm than good

"Kids today", has often been said by parents. How often do we hear that? Or even say it ourselves? What does it mean when people say that? Usually the suggestion is negative, that they are lazy, that they don't work as hard, that they get into trouble or have bad attitudes. Not very often does it mean that kids today are exceeding our expectations. Some believe even Socrates shared the same sentiment (although it has not been definitively verified as Socrates), "The children now love luxury. They have bad manners, contempt for authority; they show disrespect for elders and love chatter in place of exercise." I would like to stick up for Generation Y (Millennials). I think we are giving them a bit of a bad rap. My own children are Generation Y so I am speaking from personal experience from what I have seen from them and from their friends and acquaintances.

To make things easier I will talk about averages, there are always exceptional cases, and I have checked on the US Labor site to verify that my own personal experiences have matched the general middle class public's. My grandparents survived the Depresssion and WWII and raised children who grew into adults that went to college, became employed, bought homes and raised families. The jobs they had paid living wages that allowed a family of four to live comfortable lives and came with health benefits. Their salary to mortgage rate was about 3 times their annual salary. Today, however, there is a 1050% increase in salary to home price making home buying for young people a fantasy.

Ok, so they can't buy a new home. They can rent. BUT let's imagine that a young 20 something finds a reasonably priced house. They probably won't qualify for a mortage because of this other large monthly payment they are making that my generation and my parents generation didn't have to make- a student loan that is equal to 50 - 100% of a home payment. For many Millennials their student loan payment is higher than their car payment. We didn't have that problem. Tuition has increased 429% since 1978, while minimum wage has only increased 239%. Ok, so a college graduate should make more than minimum wage, right? That's why we go to college so we can get a better paying job. Unfortunately, that isn't a given anymore. "Today's crop of new B.A.s are staring at roughly 8.5 percent unemployment, 16.8 percent underemployment. Close to half of those who land work won't immediately find a job that requires their degree, and for those stuck in that situation, there are fewer "good" jobs to go around."  Remeber how our parents told us, "Go to college so you can get a good job and make a good living."? It was good advice so I gave the same advice to my kids as did the other parents I know. Turns out we were wrong. Now they have big loans and a shrinking job market. And that's the Generation Y adults who did go to college. There are many who didn't and are having a hard time getting work, especially full time work.

Recently, I had dinner with a couple who own 2 pizza restaraunts. They were telling me that they had trouble finding employees who would work and stay employed with them. It was a constant hiring process for them. They said several employees told them, "I can get welfare and make the same amount of money." So they did. Lots of people have a problem with this scenario. So do I. I think healthy, able people should work but if your boss can't or won't promise you 40 hours a week and health benefits and a living wage you can see why many give up. Is the problem that our government gives people handouts; maybe. Or is the problem that CEO's make 354 times the average worker? (471:1, it depends on who's labor information you use) If you are doing back breaking work and barely making it while you watch the CEO drive up in a fancy car, wearing expensive clothes, and you know he owns several homes, a yacht and other things you can never hope to own, what is your incentive to work less than full time, no health benefits and unstable employment? Maybe we shouldn't be asking why 'kids don't have work ethics like we did'. Maybe we should be asking why they even bother to apply for a job. The reason why I and my generation went to school and appplied for work is because we had seen our parents do the same and our parents raised us, bought a home and a car and were able to particpate in consumer purchases and went on vacations. We had good role models and examples in our culture that sold us on the message, "Work hard and you will succeed.".

What did Generation Y see? They saw mommy come home from work sad and daddy explaining, "Leave mommy alone for a little while she was laid off today." They saw granma having to move in with them because her life savings were lost in the financial meltdown of 2008. Sometimes both parents were laid off at the same time and when they finally did get a job it was for a lot less money. They had to move from their childhood home because the family home was foreclosed on. Generation Y has been given the message, "Don't count on anything. You will be let go for any reason at any time. Your salary may go up by 1% if you're lucky and we're in a good mood but that 1% will just go towards the increase in the health insurance and co-pays." Jobs are short term and can be taken away for any reason, at any time, no matter how many hours you work; how much overtime you put in; how much of a team player you are. Instead of the strong unions that granpa had their parents got 'at will'. And we wonder why they don't have a strong work ethic. Employee loyalty comes from EMPLOYER loyalty. If you want hard working loyal employees you pay for it with good salaries and benefits and reward them with dependable jobs that last as long as they do a good job not just until the shareholders and CEO's decide they need bonuses.

What did we have when we graduated in the 1970's? The idea and example from our parents that if we went to school we would get a good job and if we worked hard at that job we would be rewarded with a salary that enabled us to buy a car and a home and be able to raise a family and maybe even a nice vacation once in a while. Our parents were able to purchase us nice clothes, extra curricular activities and the promise of a good future. What message has Generation Y been given? If they're lucky they might get a good job but don't plan on anything because at any momemt a layoff will be called and they will lose it all. Don't work too hard because it really won't make a difference; we are going to send your job overseas. Is it any wonder they live for the moment? The future isn't very bright. But it doesn't have to be this way.

We all want the same thing. The chance for a better future. We can still have that and we can sit down with our kids and tell them, "Yea, things didn't go well in the past few decades for most Americans but if you vote, if you email and text and write to the politicians we can turn things around for your future. If you support unions again instead of letting them become weak like we did you can get a good job. If you demand a better future like our great grandparents did, we can still get one. Don't listen to those who say things are hopeless. They aren't. People have overcome injustices before and can do so again. You deserve a good future just as much as the few at the top of the food chain. You deserve a good job with a good salary. Learn from what we didn't do." Our generation was Charlie Brown and we allowed corporate Lucy to keeping pulling the football from us all the while promising, they wouldn't screw us. They did anyway. We need to take the ball back and kick it ourselves towards a better future. It's possible.

In a historic speech in Havana, Cuba, a president of the United States used no palliative terms to soften his description of the role played by both the government of the U.S. and that of the Republic of Cuba in sustaining the ridiculous Mexican standoff that has spanned the entirety of that same president’s very life! For the moment, that speech, which will shine in the annals of U.S. presidential profiles in courage, could have been delivered only by the likes of Barack Hussain Obama. The travel on that road toward enshrinement will of necessity be delayed, due not only to the horrendous images forthcoming from Europe, but also by the negative din emanating from the U.S. political cacophony.

The singularity of that particular U.S. presidential pronouncement also was noted by an astonished, Cuban television viewer. Stunned by all of the prohibitive expressions being widely disseminated through the media of his thought-and-word-restricted, island home – especially in the presence of one bearing the patronymic borne by two individuals who have been the successive purveyors of those restrictions – with amazing perception, this long-silenced soul remarked, “He is saying things that no other U.S. president has had the courage to say.”

Yes, indeed, as Raúl Castro sat, probably wondering why he, himself, had opened that very dangerous can of worms, Barack Obama proceeded first by saying all of the proper things about the horrific occurrences in Brussels, Belgium. He then began a review of the U.S.-Cuban standoff that began the same year his father came to America. Not only did Obama cover the political and military missteps on both sides, he also delved into those historic social and racial aspects of each country that usually are ignored by the leadership of both countries. While pointing out the failings of the U.S. government, in some aspects, he also pointedly demonstrated how those failings had been overcome through difficult but effective democratic expression in word and ballot. Obama strongly suggested that such radical applications of human expression might even be achieved on a politically besieged Caribbean island. The unease caused by such blatant heterodoxy, unleashed in the presence of Raúl Castro was noted in the hesitancy of the applause, which had been strong for all of the kumbaya pronouncements. One could imagine all of the hands-over-mouth astonishment rippling before radios and television sets throughout the island.

It was apparent that few in the U.S. were paying attention to the speech. The mere fact of Obama’s presence in Cuba was sufficient fodder for all the usual suspects. His attendance at a baseball game and continuing on the Argentina was to much for those even not among the usual suspects. The general consensus seemed to be that he should have returned to the U.S. or proceeded to Europe. No one, it appears, considers the fact that Air Force One is better fitted for global communication than the Oval Office.

***** ***** *****

BHO is caught in a web.

Where he doth roam, doth good sense ebb.

At the Pearly Gates,

Said by one who hates:

“Git! This here’s reserved for the Reb!”