Should I Get Married?

I am having a very bad day today, from a simple physical perspective. I hurt. My arms hurt so bad it felt like a heart attack, except I know the difference. The pain has been radiating down my arm into my wrist. Overall, my body is suffering from a general exhaustion. After getting up to eat a nutritionally void breakfast of packaged cereal, I rolled over to the window with my coffee, lay back, rested, and completely forgot to drink that coffee. Most of it went into the sink.

The afternoon is already proving to be better. I've had some water to drink, eaten a few of the cookies Meaghan left for me. done a few tidy up chores, putt some of the detritus from the lasr few days back where it belongs. The painkillers have cut in quickly this time; my shoulder is already down from screaming to a mere whimper.

There has been one very interesting thing happen today, one which I have been expecting for some time. One which arrived this morning. First of all, it's important to understand that the vase majority of the care givers in this country are first generation immigrants, some so new they barely speak English. They have an English comprehension test in order to get into their Health Care Aide training program; the results demonstrate to me that it must be an incredibly simple test. Most of them struggle with the most basic of phrases.

One of my HCA's is from Cameroon, where French is the primary language. She entered Canada through Quebec about five years ago. This was a time when immigration rules for peoiple entering Quebec were primarly swept aside if they were French speaking. It lead to a flood of immigrants from a great many ex-French colonies. Unfortunately many of them have found that discrimination and cultural challenges have made Quebec their entry point, but not their home. They've moved  around the country, learning English as they go.

My Cameroonian HCA asked me this morning if I knew someone who might help arrange a "false marriage" for her sister, who, apparently, still lives in Cameroon but wants to come to Canada. Her sister would come to Canada,. "fall in love", return to Cameroon with her fiance for the marriage, then apply to immigrate to Canada. I am not sure if this is the correct process; I know nothing of this kind of thing.

I did learn that there might be money involved, from the sister to the intended. I also learned that it would be nice if it became a "real marriage". I suggested I wouldl not be a good candidate; my expected life span is too short. She said she wasn't asking if I would do it, only that if I knew someone. I said no. That was that.

What do I do now? Mostly nothing. Asking me about someone to do an arranged marriage is not a crime. Arranged marriages with spouses in other countries is so common as to be seen as a standard process. The "false marriage" is merely confusion in translation. She really did mean arranged marriage, speaking extensively about the need to find someone who could do the arrangement.

But it was an interesting conversation.