The Importance of Being Isaac
So this evening I was treated to a 15 - 20 minute lecture by a passionate, earnest, expressive speaker who entreated me over and over again to "Tamino, I got a ball to vote."

Or something like that.

It was rather difficult to make out what this speaker was saying, because the only words he uses with any regularity are: Mommy, Daddy, No (with Stunning regularity), Dirty (a comment on our housekeeping?), Ball, Up!, and Cookie (he is nothing if not predictable).

So this evening's lecture..well, my comprehension of it, but certainly not my enjoyment of it, was somewhat hampered by the language barrier. He doesn't speak much English, and sadly, I only know a few words of Isaac.

He did however walk away, and then come back over and over again as I laid on the floor in the basement, and every time he came back he would make his earnest entreaties, and look at me with the most serious and hopeful expression on his face.

All I could think of to say was "Of Course," and "I understand," mixed up with the occaisional "I know!" In retrospect, that might not have been the best course of action...with me not knowing exactly what it was I was agreeing to. Is he going to be furious now when he finds out that he does not get cake for breakfast every morning, and fed fresh strawberries for every dinner? What exactly have I committed to.

I figure that most Prime Ministers can't buy this kind of training. Years from now I'll be in a media scrum and I will think back to Isaac and his earnest lecture and I'll say, "Well, let's consider all the facts first, and then we'll make a prudent and fiscally responsible decision that benefits all Canadians."

Of course I might always say "Tamino, I got a ball to vote..." and just let the chips fall where they may.