Age of Consent

           

            I went to the food bank earlier on Wednesday than usual. They seem to also be opening earlier these days. Perhaps they have winter hours. There hasn’t been a line-up when I’ve arrived for the last few weeks. There was a new volunteer putting out some trash when I got there and he commented that he had written a bike in the winter like I was doing and did it for twenty years. He said that driving on the snow is the best exercise. I argued that it’s not all that healthy when you wipe out on the ice, and he agreed. I went inside and got number sixteen. On my way out, the new volunteer introduced himself as Marlon, and shook my hand. He told me to ride safely as I left.

            I’d noticed after riding in the storm the day before that my chain could use some oil, so I stopped by the hardware store on my way home and bought a can of WD-40.

            At home, I checked out my daughter’s Facebook page and saw a post about David Bowie’s brief affair with Lori Mattix, one of the well-known underage groupies of the Los Angeles Rock and Roll scene back in the 70s. Most accounts put her as having been born in 1958 and since Bowie’s Ziggy Stardust tour hit LA in October of 1972 she would have been somewhere in her 14^th year. Someone commented that this piece of information puts a damper on the “rip” sentiment in relation to Bowie, but I think it brings up an interesting question about the age of consent. Lori would be pretty close to the same age as the first woman that I ever lived with, who was fifteen until August of 1973 and I think she moved in with me a month or so earlier. Apparently though, ours was not an illegal relationship in Canada in terms of consent because I was eighteen at the time, whereas if I’d been twenty-one it would have been considered statutory rape on my part. Sixteen is the age of consent in Canada but at fifteen, someone can consent to have sex with anyone up to five years older than oneself without getting them into trouble. I looked up the age of consent for some of the countries that were ranked by Humanium as the highest for the protection of children’s rights and here are the consent laws for the top twenty-five:

Ranking for Children’s Rights   Country         Age of Consent

1.                                                 Liechtenstein  14

2.                                                 San Marino     14

3.                                                 Andorra          16

4.                                                 New Zealand   16

5.                                                 Monaco          15

6.                                                 Sweden          15

7.                                                 Netherlands    16

8.                                                 Finland           16

9.                                                 Switzerland     16

10.                                               Austria            14

11.                                               Norway            16

12.                                               Germany         14

13.                                               Iceland            15

14.                                               Japan              18 but 13 for consent with other teens 15.                                               UK                  16

16.                                               Slovenia          15

17.                                               Ireland             17

18.                                               Belgium           16

19.                                               Barbados         16

20.                                               Costa Rica       15

21.                                               Canada            16

22.                                               France             15

23.                                               Lithuania          16

24.                                               Denmark          15

25.                                               Chile                18

            

            The average age of consent for all of these countries is about fifteen and a half, and since both Canada and the United States have their ages of consent set at sixteen, this average isn’t very far away from what we are used to. But I find it interesting that the top two countries for protecting children’s rights have their age of consent set at fourteen, and that in the top twelve there are four countries with fourteen as their age of consent, including Germany and Austria, which are both considered to be very socially progressive countries. So what I wonder is, what is the difference in our attitudes? Are we overprotective or are they underprotective? Are children raised to be more sexually mature in Germany and Austria or are they simply trusted more? If David Bowie had taken Lori Mattix’s virginity in Germany, no one would be calling him a rapist now, especially since she herself did not consider it rape and she remembers it now as having been a beautiful experience.

            I went back to the food bank at around 13:30 and walked to the back of the driveway. There was snow covering most of the concrete except for a patch a couple of metres square in the centre next to the sewer grate. That’s where I almost slipped and fell, but caught my balance and stayed upright. When the doorperson opened the door to call the first five numbers, I walked over and informed her that they should salt at least the icy patch on the driveway. She said she didn’t know who is in charge of the driveway. I told her that if they’ve got clients hanging around on it then they are responsible no matter who owns the property. She nodded and went back inside, shouting, “Do we have salt?” I went back to the inner end of the driveway.

            A woman was looking for a light for her cigarette and explained to the person that gave her one that she used to drink, until one day she was in her apartment and realized that she had alcohol but no food. She said that at that moment she quit drinking cold turkey. Then she added, while gesturing with her cigarette, “But I’ve never been able to give these up!” and then she put it in her mouth and lit it.

            The doorperson came out to call numbers 6 to 10, and when she saw me she shouted out that they need to wait for Joe to come back in order to get the salt. It seemed weird that she’d be addressing me, as if it was only for me that they were going to eliminate the hazard. A few minutes later I saw another guy step on the patch and almost fall.

            Once I was inside the wait was longer than usual and I was still sitting when the next five numbers were called in. Among them was a middle-aged man who was about to sit down to my right. He was about to put away the pair of brown leather mittens that he was holding, but then he hesitated, looked at them and smiled slightly, then said to me proudly in a European accent, “I’ve had these mittens for twenty years!” I looked at them and nodded. They didn’t look worn at all. Before putting them in his coat pocket he added, “Canadian made!”

            My volunteer was Bruce. Besides the usual items, there was a bag of sea salt Kettle Chips, a container of southern black bean soup and a bag of loose black tea. In the cold section, Sue gave me a two-litre container of milk and two packages of ham with rosemary, she said, “Because I like you, but don’t tell anybody!” This isn’t the same as telling someone, is it? There were a few Danishes in the bread section and some potatoes at the end.

            I went to the supermarket to get some coffee milk and margarine. I wondered how much of a hassle I would have if one day I went to the supermarket after the food bank and someone that worked there thought that what I had in my bags had come from there. Without a receipt, how could I prove it?

            When I went home, there was an email from Professor Robert Gibbs, telling us that Thursday’s class was cancelled because he was ill. Also he informed us that the next class would be in a new location, which is the third change since the course started. A few hours later, by a bizarre coincidence, Andrew Lesk sent out an email to inform us that that our Thursday Short Story class was cancelled because he’d injured his leg. It was another sports injury. I remember a few years ago when he lectured to his Graphic Novel class with a concussion.
            This was the first time since 2008 that I’ve had a class cancelled and very strange that two were cancelled in the same day.