“Do You Know Where You Are?” by P.C.A.W. (from Grit Uplifted group @ Central Library–Week 3: Setting)

The bell clangs. Men and women filter through the door and take their assigned seats. There is a call to order–Hey man, I’ll have a Big Mac and a caffeine-free diet Coke!! Oops, wrong type of order.
At the front of the room is an extremely ornate chair several steps above the floor. The back of this chair towers over the head of the current occupant. Around the chair occupier[1], sitting on these steps, are the “go-fers”[2]. Down the middle of the room is a long table where other people involved with the action sit. I wonder if this is the dining table.
All the seats face inward toward this table. Take a close look at the seats. You will see hard, ornate wood. The carving on the wood reminds me of my grandmother’s stairway. From the television perspective, one cannot see if there might be a cushion to protect the human’s derriere from this hard, unforgiving wood. This set-up reminds me of a dance I had attended many years ago, with the boys holding the wall up on one side of the room and the girls on the other side of the room doing the same thing, each afraid to interact with the other.
Some of the men and women are labeled as “Slash, Cut and Burn”[3] members, and the majority sits on the right side of the current chair occupier at the front of the room. The rest of the people make up the “Spend Generously”[4], “New Spend Generously”[5], “The French Connection”[6], and one of the “Keep It Green”[7], and sit on the left side of the current chair occupier. The overflow of the “Slash, Cut and Burn” also sit on this side. Occasionally, there may be “Independents”, who may or may not show any loyalty to anyone.
To watch these people in action, one would think that this was daycare for adults who need to learn how to get along with each other. The finger pointing is unbelievable, and no names are allowed to be used. Remember guys and gals, there are always three fingers on your own hand pointing back. At times, it appears that no one is listening to anyone else. Are you talking just to hear your own voice? “We have to do this because someone felt like a criminal.”[8] “We are in it to create jobs.” How does cutting out a department help in creating jobs? Order! Order rings out from the occupier of the chair, and still no food arrives.
You have been introduced to the Canadian Federal House of Commons.