Before we dive in, I’ll say this now and then I’ll talk about this more below. I’ve come to learn that there were a lot of things I didn’t know, because I thought I didn’t need to know them. Because I thought racism wasn’t something I was involved in, I thought it was out of my hands. But I’ve come to realize that’s just not the case. It’s something that I myself have privileged from because I’m white and this same privilege isn’t afforded to everyone because they have a different skin colour. We can’t pretend that it isn’t happening to those around us anymore. Racism is systemic and it’s been ingrained in our society over decades and centuries. Change is long overdue and being silent is being complicit.
So, in case I’m not being clear, DODOlogic stands with Black Lives Matter and those who have been racialized in Canada, the U.S. and around the world. If this causes us to lose any followers, contributors or business, I am sorry that we attracted those kinds of people in the first place.
Please note: The first part of this story was written in late May.
I’d be lying if I thought this is how 2020 would play out. Initially, I thought I’d be covering plenty of car events: Private drift days, Final Bouts, etc. Turns out, I was wrong… like, really wrong.
In February, I shot the SerialNine private drift day and then took some vacation time at the end of the month. I was vaguely aware of the state of the world, but also still blissfully ignorant of what COVID-19 actually meant. I thought back on SARS and other virus scares in my lifetime and thought, “Hey, I’m still here – this is probably a lot of hype for nothing.”
I was in Disneyland when an alert popped up on my phone saying that they would be closing the next day. At this point, I accepted that when I returned to Vancouver, I would have to quarantine at home for two weeks. “What a long time to be stuck at home,” I thought. Let’s just say, things escalated quickly. By the Monday of my return, the company I work for had closed their offices and asked everyone to work from home. I’m very lucky that my wife and I can work remotely, so that’s what we did. When it all started, we thought we’d be home for three to four weeks tops.
Fast forward months later, and my wife and I are still working remotely while looking after our 3-year-old daughter. I love my family, but that’s a long time to stay inside and try to do work and manage family life. I’ve seen all the Disney movies more than anyone should and at this point, I could start a blog where I critically analyze them. Like what the hell was Ariel thinking in The Little Mermaid? She was 16 and made a deal with a dubious lady to pursue a man she had never even talked to! Of course, King Triton seems strict, but his daughter continually makes bad decisions and never takes accountability for her actions. What lesson is that movie teaching? Ariel did everything wrong, but I guess it all worked out in the end (or maybe not, if we consider the passive-aggressive exchange between Ariel and Eric after 12+ years of marriage in The Little Mermaid II: Return to the Sea).
But I digress… After what felt like an eternity, the rules on social gatherings were loosened a little and Pete Ky did a great thing. He planned a private drift event for himself and a couple of his friends. Pete was also nice enough to let me come and take some photos. It would seem that this might be the new normal for drift events in a world that requires social distancing. Driver caps and smaller groups of attendees isn’t the worst thing that could happen to drifting, at least from my perspective. Fewer cars mean I get more opportunities to photograph the ones I appreciate and the drivers get more seat time. Not having a ton of attendees is probably not great for business, but it didn’t seem to hurt the day either.
I’ll be honest – sometimes I struggle to understand why I still do DODOlogic. It’s been going for around 10 years, and everyone who started this with me has moved on. I’ll be 36 in July and this site hasn’t changed much in the last few years. Me in my 20s was excited to see what DODO could become, but over the last few years, there’s been times when it feels like I do it just because I always have.
Spending time at a track helped remind me why I do what I do and maybe why we all do it. I get it – with everything going on in the world, it seems frivolous. And admittedly, it is. In the past, when I’ve talked to people outside the car world about my interests, they’ve asked, “So your friends like to slide 20-year-old Japanese cars with expensive wheels around corners?” To which I would respond “Yes.” Then the follow-up question was always, “And you just take photos of them for free?” to which I respond, “Yes, for the most part.” Sometimes I can see their point – it’s a lot of work for very little reward.
But no matter how ridiculous all of it may seem at times, it still means something, because it means something to those people who participate in the community. And in my case, being away from it made the heart grow fonder.
This was going to be where I ended the article back in late May, and I thought I’d say something about how it’s important to do things you enjoy doing just for the sake of it because it probably helps your mental health. Then, we collectively found ourselves in the largest civil rights movement of our time.
All of a sudden, it seemed a little tone-deaf for me to complain about how I couldn’t go to a drift event when so many are fighting for equality. Furthermore, this probably speaks to the type of privilege I’ve been privy to my whole life. Me and most of my friends drive cars that cops love to pull over, but usually, our worst fear is we’ll be forced to get a vehicle inspection or pay some ticket. Most of my friends (myself included) don’t have to worry about police brutality in a routine track stop.
I held off on posting this article because I very much believe there is more important stuff going on in the world that we need to be focused on. So why post now? Well, the Black Lives Matter movement shows no sign of slowing down and that’s great! I think it’s important that we continue to be cognitively aware of these issues in our day-to-day life.
Like I said in the beginning, 2020 has been quite a year so far. There has been quite the shift already and I sincerely hope we can continue to put the well-being and rights of others above our own self-interest.
