Weed Kill

My wife said now that they don’t sell Roundup in Canada any more, go to the hardware store and see if there’s a safe weed killer for the patio stones. I thought this was a good idea and took myself to Home Hardware to see what was now available.

I said to the old guy (like I’m not one!), “now that they don’t sell Roundup in Canada any more is there a safe weed killer to use for weeds between the patio stones”?

Roundup is the brand name of a systemic, broad-spectrum herbicide produced by the Monsanto, and contains the active ingredient glyphosate. Glyphosate is the most widely used herbicide in the USA, and Roundup has been the number one selling herbicide worldwide since at least 1980

He laughed, and he told me that we do have Roundup here in Canada again, and they paid some smart guys in Ottawa lots of money to make up new rules. “It is right here,” he pointed to a cabinet with open wire mesh doors and a big lock on it. “If you want it I can open the door for you”.

“Which size do you want?” he said. I looked at them and chose the medium size and he said, ”I am not allowed to touch it and hand it to you, but you may select it yourself from the shelf”.

I laughed as did he and I took out the container. He locked the cabinet and I proceeded to the front. The clerk behind the register rang it up, and she said, “They pay some guy in Ottawa $25 an hour to write this stuff!” and she handed me a very long printed sales slip warning me that I had just purchased a controlled substance and warning me what I could do and not do with it, in two official languages.

What in the hell is wrong with these people? I cannot believe, that just like cigarettes, we now have controlled Roundup. Either make it illegal or not, but to bring it back in limbo is weird!

My daughter, when she heard this story, was horrified that I bought Roundup and screamed about Monsanto and Agent Orange etc. and it was the 60’s all over again. Given she wasn’t born until 1994, it was an unexpected reaction. She is my tree hugger darlin’