the ocean isn't safe

a riff on unconscious bias

One occasion, after a surf session, while changing from my wet suit, I encountered a concerned citizen.

They quickly informed me that what I was doing was dangerous. And that I should not have been in the water.

Completely safe, satisfied - glowing in fact - from the fun I just had in playful, small-ish waves, I laughed it off.

These non surfers had an unconscious bias and lack of experience about the ocean.

When my daughter was a baby, she refused to wear things to cover her hands - even in the coldest of weather. While walking around the streets of Leslieville, I regularly encountered scorn and derision from Grandmother aged women who insisted I was abusing my daughter.

This?

This I didn’t laugh off so easily.

These critics didn’t see the lead up to the glovelessness.

These critics had a limited field of experience.

They saw a young man with a baby and decided he didn’t know what he didn’t know what he was doing.

Their unconscious bias hurt.

This weekend, I encountered another one of these cr…