shanmonster | The First of Interesting People Met at My Summer Job

A man with the piercing fervour of the born-again approached me. He told me he is an artisan specializing in Celtic woodworking. We discussed crafts for a while, and he stood cloer and closer, invading my space in a European manner.

As he pinned me into a corner with his presence, his conversation topic switched without benefit of segue. Of a sudden, he asked me if I had Canadian citizenship.

"Yes, I do."

"Have you upgraded it?"

"Uhhh...." This confused me. "Upgraded it?"

"Yes. Have you had a Canadian citizenship upgrade? You need one."

I looked at him blankly. "I've never heard of such a thing."

"Most people haven't. We're kept in the dark. A veil is drawn over our eyes. For most people, the fabric grows thicker. But for those like me, it's becoming thinner."

The fanatical, Rasputin gleam of the man's eyes was beginning to make sense to me. He was a loon.

"Next week," he continued, "I'll be marching around the city with a new flag. I'm with an initiative to improve the quality of life for children. We are very serious. We're going to remove all poverty and racism."

"Good luck with that," I said.

"Yes, and I want to hold Sacred Circles."

"Oh, you might want to speak with the people next door," I said, probably in an attempt to scrape the guy off me and onto some other poor sap. The shop next door to mine is run by some Mic'Mac people who are into things like sweat lodges and Sacred Circles.

He wholly dismissed that idea: "I'm lightyears ahead of them. Their veil is thick where mine is thin. Conflict has blinded people to the things which truly matter."

At that, he wandered off.