Image: Henry Pejril speaks at awards ceremony. Photo courtesy Peter Olsen.

By Mel Rothenburger

ROTHENBURGER: Instead of giving each other the finger, how about giving our time?

Apr 23, 2022 | 6:36 AM

THERE’S GENERAL AGREEMENT that people are angry. It’s relative, of course, but they’re undeniably angrier right now than they’ve been for a long time.

It was surprising, though, to hear the issue brought up this week during what is strictly a feelgood event. Once a year, 80 or so people attend what are known as “Exemplary Service Awards” to honour a half dozen community volunteers.

The mayor reads out a description of what they’ve done to deserve recognition, then they’re presented with a book, a bouquet and a glass trophy. Each recipient is invited to say a few words at the microphone.

Usually, they thank the City, their families and the people they work with as volunteers. Then everybody adjourns for snacks and some pleasant chitchat before calling it a night. This year, one of those honoured with the award was Henry Pejril, a long-time volunteer known for his involvement in sporting events. He’s served as president of the Kamloops Sports Council, the Canada 55-Plus Games, B.C. Summer Games and numerous other major events, and continues to volunteer for pretty much anything he’s asked to do.

Whenever the need to organize a big sports tournament comes along, Pejril’s name comes up. I was struck by what he said when his turn came at the mike. I’m paraphrasing but, basically, he said everyone has endured dark times lately. People are angry. They’re impatient. They’re judgmental. That anger represents a lot of bottled up energy. Pejril has a hope — that this energy can be redirected into something good. How? By volunteering. He’s on to something. Volunteerism as an antidote for the anger virus.

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Whether we blame it on COVID, fear of the future, Putin, crime or worries about the economy, people are acting out. It’s like a new kind of road rage but it’s not just about drivers giving each other the finger anymore. The stories come from all over. There was, for example, the unruly airline passenger who had to be duct-taped to his seat. (Sadly, the incidence of out-of-control passengers has been greatly increasing.) There was the shopper who went ballistic in a super market when he couldn’t find his favourite cheese.

As the store employee who had to handle the situation commented, “I don’t think this is about the cheese.” This anger is why people yell at servers in restaurants, shoot each other over parking spots, why next-door neighbours set up surveillance cameras to prove their grievances against each other. One psychologist says we’re living in “a big anger incubator.” Experts say that when people are angry, the part of the brain in charge of rational thought loses control of itself. People can no longer restrain themselves, and they lash out. One article I read quoted psychology professor Raymond Novaco as saying there are three things we can do about our anger: appreciation, affiliation and aspiration.

Appreciation refers to focusing on the positive things that make our lives better. Affiliation is about nurturing relationships and aspiration means working to accomplish something bigger than ourselves or serving other people. It strikes me that volunteerism covers all three. Kamloops is a city that constantly works at selfimprovement.

Very few cities our size have the recreational and cultural amenities Kamloops has, nor the shopping, the parks, the easy drive times, the mild weather, all set in a spectacularly diverse landscape. Kamloops wouldn’t be nearly as good a place to live if it weren’t for thousands of volunteers who understand and appreciate its potential, and who practice appreciation, affiliation and aspiration.

Constructive discourse is a good thing, but the other kind — the kind in which we personalize it or weaponize it — isn’t. So, we need to listen to Henry Pejril and take a page from the books of all the volunteers who were honoured this week, and all the ones who toil selflessly and anonymously for the good of their community.

Instead of getting mad, they give their afterhours time to keep it ticking along as one of the best places anywhere to live. And, by the way, some of this week’s recipients are people I’d never heard of. For the record, they include Teresa Dares, AnnMarie Aase, Ron Popove, Rick Windjack, Stella Black and Pejril. Black, who received a Freedom of the City award at the same event, is known by many, as is Pejril, and Popove might be recognizable to you for his involvement in Hot Night in the City. But the fact not all the honorees are household names speaks to the unselfishness of volunteers — they don’t do it for fame and obviously not for fortune.

They do it to learn some new things, to meet new people, to challenge themselves, because they have skills to offer or simply because it feels good to make their community and, by extension, the world, a better place. It sure beats being mad all the time.

Mel Rothenburger is a former mayor of Kamloops and a retired newspaper editor. He is a regular contributor to CFJC Today, publishes the ArmchairMayor.ca opinion website, and is a director on the Thompson-Nicola Regional District board. He can be reached at mrothenburger@armchairmayor.ca.