A pandemic story
Let me tell you a true story from early 2020, just as COVID-19 lockdown started. At the time I was a bit upset about it but now, in 2023, I can publish it. I doubt Chat GPT can match this.
First, let me briefly rewind to winter 2019. One strata owner had asked me to prune her Camelia shrub and, at first, I objected. It was cold and the shrub wasn’t exactly in the way. Let’s just wait. But, as is often the case, the woman insisted. So I made my cuts and said a little prayer for the shrub on my way out.
In spring 2022, just as people were entering lockdown, I found myself on the same site. Armed with a black bandana-like dust mask, I walked to the back patio and snapped several pictures of the same Camelia. And to my relief, it looked absolutely fine. No harm done. This time the prayer was about my company avoiding shutdown.
The phone call
Barely two hours later, my day job boss called me wondering why I was taking pictures of little kids? What the ….? Minutes later two angry parents approached me. It was the same woman and her French-Canadian husband who often smells of alcohol. They accused me of upsetting their kids by taking pictures of them; and attempted to give me COVID. What the ….?
Here was good looking Red Seal Vas, a proud father of two with a hot, if obviously menopausal, Japanese wife, accused of photographing little kids. Jesus. Match this Chat GPT.
When I first took pictures of the Camelia shrub, I didn’t notice the kids sitting in the kitchen. It was the black mask that spooked them. Remember, it was early in the pandemic before masks became standard.
It took me a while to explain everything to the parents. I showed them the Camelia photos, swiping carefully on my iPhone6 so as not to reveal pictures of my wife who was severely underdressed in most of the photos.
Once the parents shuffled off, I had to find out why the foreman on site didn’t have the balls to tell me first. He had to call the boss? What the ….?
Thankfully, the pandemic is now behind us and I kept my day job. But to this day I feel slightly ill about this affair.
Red Seal Vas
