Collected Item: “Agatha and Ronald Taylor Oral History, 2022/02/22”
Title
Agatha and Ronald Taylor
Who conducted the interview? List all names, separated by comma.
Kit Heintzman
Who was interviewed? List all names, separated by commas.
Agatha and Ronald Taylor
Email Address(es) for all interviewers. Separated by comma.
kheintzman@gmail.com
Use one-word hashtags (separated by commas) to describe your oral history. For example: Where did it originate? How does this object make you feel? How does this object relate to the pandemic?
Agatha
#bible, #Canada, #Christian, #church, #convoy, #dog, #DougFord, #family, #groceries, #isolation, #Kingston, #Ontario, #pets, #masking, #newspaper, #peace, #Polio, #Putin, #sewing, #SpanishFlu, #telehealth, #reading, #religion, #trucker, #vaccination, #war
Ronald
#Canada, #death, #family, #FirstResponder, #friends, #gaming, #guns, #kindergarten, #Kingston, #IVF, #married, #masking, #military, #Ontario, #Ottawa, #pilot, #police, #PPE, #race, #racism, #Sudbury, #teacher, #trucker, #Trudeau, #Yukon, #white
#bible, #Canada, #Christian, #church, #convoy, #dog, #DougFord, #family, #groceries, #isolation, #Kingston, #Ontario, #pets, #masking, #newspaper, #peace, #Polio, #Putin, #sewing, #SpanishFlu, #telehealth, #reading, #religion, #trucker, #vaccination, #war
Ronald
#Canada, #death, #family, #FirstResponder, #friends, #gaming, #guns, #kindergarten, #Kingston, #IVF, #married, #masking, #military, #Ontario, #Ottawa, #pilot, #police, #PPE, #race, #racism, #Sudbury, #teacher, #trucker, #Trudeau, #Yukon, #white
What is the format of your recording?
Video
In what ZIP code is the primary residence of the interviewee? (enter 5-digit ZIP code; for example, 00544 or 94305)? In what city/town/village does the interviewee live? In what country does the interviewee live? All comma-separated.
Kingston, Ontario, Canada
What is the gender of the interviewee? Be sure to allow interviewees to self-identify their gender in the pre-interview or interview. *Do not assign a gender identity to interviewees.*
Agatha: female; Ronald: male
What is the age of the interviewee?
75 or older
How does the interviewee describe their race or ethnicity? Be sure to allow interviewees to self-identify their race/ethnicity in the pre-interview or interview. *Do not assign a racial or ethnic identity to interviewees.*
Agatha: UK decent;
Ronald: told I'm partially of the UK decent and my mother says her side has some black and Indian along with European
Ronald: told I'm partially of the UK decent and my mother says her side has some black and Indian along with European
Describe the oral history.
Agatha Taylor
Self description:
“I’m 92. I live by myself with a little dog. I was born in Kingston; I’ve lived here all my life. I’ve lived in this house for almost 70 years.”
Some of the things we spoke about include:
Not feeling like day-to-day living changed that much with the pandemic, but missing things like coffee shops and shopping
COVID-19 and population control
The Bible, tithings, church; taking what the Good Lord dishes out; the world going to hell
Having groceries delivered by family members and getting drives to appointments
Family getting vaccinated
Wearing masks in the home
Having a daughter-in-law working in the ICU
Having lived with dogs for the last 60 years; currently living with a dog named Andy
Ontario COVID policies and Doug Ford
Preferring print media over TV or online news; enjoying reading the newspaper
Consulting healthcare professionals over the phone and in person
Feeling safe
Isolation accompanying aging
Trucker convoy in Ottawa
Putin, Russia, and the threat of war
The taking down of the statue of Sir John A. McDonald in Kingston after protests
The Spanish Flu
Not having been vaccinated as a child, first vaccine was for Polio
Neighbours with polio, hospitalization, media
Other cultural reference: The Hunt (2006) by Allison Brennen
After thoughts from Agatha Taylor: “man proposes and god disposes.” And “The God Lord only gives you so many days and when your time is up it’s up.”
Ronald Taylor
Self description:
“I’m 38 years old. I live in a place called Sudbury, Ontario. I’m a pilot. I fly for the government, I’ve flown for a few airlines. I’ve a house, a wife, and no kids yet, working on that. I figure I’m a generally all right person.”
Some of the things we discussed included:
Learning about the pandemic from YouTube
Having learned a lot about biological, chemical, and nuclear warfare in the military (2001; 2012)
Early adopter of masking from knowledge and experience working as a first responder; emergency medical responder in the Yukon; watching people die over and over when working in healthcare; confronting mortality
Violence and hate crimes
Being an air ambulance driver
Developing compassion and putting away differences in emergency circumstances
Hospitals delaying treatment for non-COVID related needs
Socialized healthcare; burn out in the Canadian healthcare system; high personnel turnover
Working in the Canadian arctic, Yukon; basically non-existent healthcare access in the Yukon; the importance of expediency in life-or-death circumstances and making decisions under pressure
Different comfort levels with risk during the pandemic and personal risk assessment
Driving a propane truck during the pandemic; observations about truckers; government treatment of truckers
Feeling lucky in comparison to peers
Not being able to travel to visit distant friends; having unvaccinated family members who can’t visit; wondering what is the difference between stopping an unvaccinated person from being on an airplane but letting them sit on a bus for long distance travel
Wife is a kindergarten teacher working with small children; having to work with unvaccinated children, but not being able to work with unvaccinated adults/colleagues; online teaching for kindergarteners; children masking
Wife’s Kindness Ninja project; teaching students to do random acts of kindness without expectations of reward; power hierarchies in education
Building a home and trying to have a child, the possibility of employment change
IVF, limits of health insurance in Canada; the cost of IVF without insurance
Micro-states and concerns about separatism in Canada; war in Europe
Feeling like the Conservative party and the Liberal party have flipped ideological positions
Increased militarization of the police; father was a police officer; police violence at the trucker convoy protests; guns
Mainstream news coverage in construct to livestreams of the trucker convoy
Pride at grandmother’s accomplishments over her lifetime
Trudeau’s invoking the Emergencies Act; potential long term legislative change
Political division without Canada over history, eg. Sir John A. MacDonald; biased media; historically situated ethics
Feeling like white Canadians have been painted as horrible people; Canadian racism
Pandemic weight gain and new health goals
The relationship between safety and autonomy
The importance of kindness
Cultural references: Porter Airlines, Kindness Ninjas (https://kindnessninjas.ca/about-us), Instagram, Maclean’s Magazine, Elizabeth May, Queen’s University Homecoming Aberdeen Party
Self description:
“I’m 92. I live by myself with a little dog. I was born in Kingston; I’ve lived here all my life. I’ve lived in this house for almost 70 years.”
Some of the things we spoke about include:
Not feeling like day-to-day living changed that much with the pandemic, but missing things like coffee shops and shopping
COVID-19 and population control
The Bible, tithings, church; taking what the Good Lord dishes out; the world going to hell
Having groceries delivered by family members and getting drives to appointments
Family getting vaccinated
Wearing masks in the home
Having a daughter-in-law working in the ICU
Having lived with dogs for the last 60 years; currently living with a dog named Andy
Ontario COVID policies and Doug Ford
Preferring print media over TV or online news; enjoying reading the newspaper
Consulting healthcare professionals over the phone and in person
Feeling safe
Isolation accompanying aging
Trucker convoy in Ottawa
Putin, Russia, and the threat of war
The taking down of the statue of Sir John A. McDonald in Kingston after protests
The Spanish Flu
Not having been vaccinated as a child, first vaccine was for Polio
Neighbours with polio, hospitalization, media
Other cultural reference: The Hunt (2006) by Allison Brennen
After thoughts from Agatha Taylor: “man proposes and god disposes.” And “The God Lord only gives you so many days and when your time is up it’s up.”
Ronald Taylor
Self description:
“I’m 38 years old. I live in a place called Sudbury, Ontario. I’m a pilot. I fly for the government, I’ve flown for a few airlines. I’ve a house, a wife, and no kids yet, working on that. I figure I’m a generally all right person.”
Some of the things we discussed included:
Learning about the pandemic from YouTube
Having learned a lot about biological, chemical, and nuclear warfare in the military (2001; 2012)
Early adopter of masking from knowledge and experience working as a first responder; emergency medical responder in the Yukon; watching people die over and over when working in healthcare; confronting mortality
Violence and hate crimes
Being an air ambulance driver
Developing compassion and putting away differences in emergency circumstances
Hospitals delaying treatment for non-COVID related needs
Socialized healthcare; burn out in the Canadian healthcare system; high personnel turnover
Working in the Canadian arctic, Yukon; basically non-existent healthcare access in the Yukon; the importance of expediency in life-or-death circumstances and making decisions under pressure
Different comfort levels with risk during the pandemic and personal risk assessment
Driving a propane truck during the pandemic; observations about truckers; government treatment of truckers
Feeling lucky in comparison to peers
Not being able to travel to visit distant friends; having unvaccinated family members who can’t visit; wondering what is the difference between stopping an unvaccinated person from being on an airplane but letting them sit on a bus for long distance travel
Wife is a kindergarten teacher working with small children; having to work with unvaccinated children, but not being able to work with unvaccinated adults/colleagues; online teaching for kindergarteners; children masking
Wife’s Kindness Ninja project; teaching students to do random acts of kindness without expectations of reward; power hierarchies in education
Building a home and trying to have a child, the possibility of employment change
IVF, limits of health insurance in Canada; the cost of IVF without insurance
Micro-states and concerns about separatism in Canada; war in Europe
Feeling like the Conservative party and the Liberal party have flipped ideological positions
Increased militarization of the police; father was a police officer; police violence at the trucker convoy protests; guns
Mainstream news coverage in construct to livestreams of the trucker convoy
Pride at grandmother’s accomplishments over her lifetime
Trudeau’s invoking the Emergencies Act; potential long term legislative change
Political division without Canada over history, eg. Sir John A. MacDonald; biased media; historically situated ethics
Feeling like white Canadians have been painted as horrible people; Canadian racism
Pandemic weight gain and new health goals
The relationship between safety and autonomy
The importance of kindness
Cultural references: Porter Airlines, Kindness Ninjas (https://kindnessninjas.ca/about-us), Instagram, Maclean’s Magazine, Elizabeth May, Queen’s University Homecoming Aberdeen Party
On what date did you record this oral history?
2022-02-22T09