Short Stories From 10 Years Ago – October 4, 2004

Short Stories From 10 Years Ago – October 4, 2004

Talking To Scrummie

Short Stories From 10 Years Ago – October 4, 2004 – When I went on my fact-finding mission to Unionville last week – you remember, the one where I sat in the sunshine, had lunch and tried to figure out what I’d like to do when I grow up – I bought a small Innukshuk to keep the big guy I already have company.

This one is half the size of his big brother and has a top stone that really looks like a human head. Okay, it’s a bit pointy, but he looks human (ish). I have this annoying (to my friends) propensity for naming things – like my treadmill Howard for instance. Regardless, Innukshuk numero duo has been sitting on the desk in my office for a few days, but unlike his bigger counterpart who has and will remain nameless, this one has been crying out for a moniker.

I knew something would come to mind, and indeed it did, just last night. In light of this being an election year in Canada and the good ol’ US of A to the south, I thought of all the scrums that happen with our respective political leaders. The perfect venue for our diligent, eagle-eyed reporters to ask the hard questions. Unfortunately they seldom do. The name Scrummie popped into my head. Now that I study him a bit closer, he definitely looks the part. Scrummy wouldn’t work for reasons understandable only to me. So Scrummie it is.

As I was leaving my office this morning just before ten-thirty, I told Scrummie all about my day and not to expect me home before four-thirty. That didn’t seem to bother him a bit. Of course I also said good-bye to The Alphabet Boys, but I seldom get an answer from them either. So Scrummie stayed home to look after my office and I went out to inspect a house that my clients seem to like. Offers are tonight. Then I met up with Dorothy, Big and Sima and we descended on Scotiabank at Yonge and Eglinton to finally meet Nino – the new branch manager.

We walked up to Grazie Ristorante, settled in for a lengthy chat, and devoured a wonderful lunch. Nino more than held his own with four women and I think he’s going to be a great guy to work with. He understands the all-important concept of “relationship banking”. For some reason this seems to escape most bank managers. We wound up our “friendly grilling ” of Nino about two-thirty and walked back to the bank with him.

I had to drop into the office to do a few things and then I headed home to get ready to present the offer for my clients this evening. As it turned out there are eleven offers registered on this delightful, little house and my clients have decided (wisely) to sit this one out. So instead I did some client research, worked on some marketing materials for my new Web Sites and told Scrummie about my day. He had no opinion one way or the other, and that was quite refreshing.

I picked Scrummie up as I talked to him and realized that he is quite tactile. He’s made of twelve highly polished river stones that have been glued together. His head is shaped like a three dimensional triangle and the smooth slope is just like a worry stone. Scrummie fits in one hand, so he’s easy to pick up as I talk on the phone, ponder the great unanswered questions of life or wonder what I’m going to write about.

I’m hoping that as we get to know each other a little better that Scrummie will be inclined to participate in these little daily dialogues, but if he’s too shy to actually speak up, maybe he’ll just stand there and emote. Thoughts of Governor Arnold’s rugged, manly visage immediately came to mind. Less is more for someone like Scrummie. He’s from the Yukon and he may be a bit intimidated by the big city. But for all I know he may already be in cahoots with The Alphabet Boys and enjoying nightly jaunts in the Mini. A lot goes on when I’m sleeping and just like many a mother, there are some things that I just don’t want to know about.