Crazy guy in Hope
I went to Kamloops last week-end to visit Paula & Mark and Lisa & Rob. On my way there, I stopped at the Dairy Queen in Hope for some lunch.
A man somewhere in his fifties I'm guessing, came up to me to chat about my motorcycle. This happens to me a lot - older men reliving their glory days telling me about a bike they used to have. So I humoured him as he told me about a great ride he did in Australia "a few years back."
When I got my tray of food and looked around, I realized on a hot day like this that of course the Dairy Queen would be jam-packed full. The man I had talked to waved at me and invited me to join him. I thought to myself, "This will be entertaining at least," and I sat across from him at his booth.
The guy was nuts.
We introduced ourselves properly and I found out his name was Erik. Do you remember the sinister "Hannibal the Cannibal" from The Silence of the Lambs? Well, I think this Erik guy must have watched it a few times and was trying to be extra spooky on purpose. He had Hannibal's shortly-cropped grey hair, piercing blue eyes, and mysterious "knowing" way of talking.
I had echoes of Hannibal saying, "Do you really know what you want, Clarissssssse?" while Erik said, "Traccccey, but what's your other name? For you do have one - I'm psychic and I know...."
I nonchalantly ate my burger and gave out vague answers to his absurd questions. He acted superior, trying in vain to give off the impression that he knew me better than I knew myself.
He asked, "So tell me Traccccey, in your opinion, where is paradisssse?"
I looked at him thoughtfully, slowly finished chewing, and serenely replied, "It's inside of you."
He was a bit taken aback. I think he had hoped I would say, "The Bahamas" or something. He then pontificated about the nature of paradise for a while, talking about the various places he'd traveled to. He really liked Figi.
He then tried some psychic ploys on me for a while, trying to guess which musical instrument I played. He also wanted me to join him in Australia to help him start up a worm farm or a snail farm. I was amused.
I really knew he was crazy when he asked me if the Paladians had visited me. They were aliens who were here on Earth to observe us. They didn't usually make their presence known because they had a rule of not interfering. (This reminded me of Star Trek.) Yet they had revealed themselves to Erik because he was special in some way. Also, somehow they were here to teach us about love.
By this time I had had enough and I stood up to go. I assertively declined his offer to visit him in Mission. He offered to see me off in the parking lot while I rode away. I told him I had a phone call to make. I said good-bye as he followed me and stood at my bike ignoring him while I phoned Kevin, who was not exactly thrilled to hear that a weird guy was following me.
He got in his car and drove away; I didn't see him again. I really did think he was harmless. My father would say it wasn't too bright of me to encourage conversation with the guy for as long as I did. But it sort of evolved in a way that I hadn't expected. Initially, I thought I was going to eat my lunch while swapping motorcycle stories.
Entertaining at least? Well of course!
A man somewhere in his fifties I'm guessing, came up to me to chat about my motorcycle. This happens to me a lot - older men reliving their glory days telling me about a bike they used to have. So I humoured him as he told me about a great ride he did in Australia "a few years back."
When I got my tray of food and looked around, I realized on a hot day like this that of course the Dairy Queen would be jam-packed full. The man I had talked to waved at me and invited me to join him. I thought to myself, "This will be entertaining at least," and I sat across from him at his booth.
The guy was nuts.
We introduced ourselves properly and I found out his name was Erik. Do you remember the sinister "Hannibal the Cannibal" from The Silence of the Lambs? Well, I think this Erik guy must have watched it a few times and was trying to be extra spooky on purpose. He had Hannibal's shortly-cropped grey hair, piercing blue eyes, and mysterious "knowing" way of talking.
I had echoes of Hannibal saying, "Do you really know what you want, Clarissssssse?" while Erik said, "Traccccey, but what's your other name? For you do have one - I'm psychic and I know...."
I nonchalantly ate my burger and gave out vague answers to his absurd questions. He acted superior, trying in vain to give off the impression that he knew me better than I knew myself.
He asked, "So tell me Traccccey, in your opinion, where is paradisssse?"
I looked at him thoughtfully, slowly finished chewing, and serenely replied, "It's inside of you."
He was a bit taken aback. I think he had hoped I would say, "The Bahamas" or something. He then pontificated about the nature of paradise for a while, talking about the various places he'd traveled to. He really liked Figi.
He then tried some psychic ploys on me for a while, trying to guess which musical instrument I played. He also wanted me to join him in Australia to help him start up a worm farm or a snail farm. I was amused.
I really knew he was crazy when he asked me if the Paladians had visited me. They were aliens who were here on Earth to observe us. They didn't usually make their presence known because they had a rule of not interfering. (This reminded me of Star Trek.) Yet they had revealed themselves to Erik because he was special in some way. Also, somehow they were here to teach us about love.
By this time I had had enough and I stood up to go. I assertively declined his offer to visit him in Mission. He offered to see me off in the parking lot while I rode away. I told him I had a phone call to make. I said good-bye as he followed me and stood at my bike ignoring him while I phoned Kevin, who was not exactly thrilled to hear that a weird guy was following me.
He got in his car and drove away; I didn't see him again. I really did think he was harmless. My father would say it wasn't too bright of me to encourage conversation with the guy for as long as I did. But it sort of evolved in a way that I hadn't expected. Initially, I thought I was going to eat my lunch while swapping motorcycle stories.
Entertaining at least? Well of course!
posted by Tracey at
11:28 AM
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