Sailor Mike

There is something about the inanities of life that will happen in such a completely inconsequential way but it will still somehow manage to reach up and stick in your craw. Your instinctive response will be to fight back in the vernacular. For instance, I work in a "secured" environment. An electronic pass card is needed for access to the building and the floor that I work on. The first time I forgot my pass card I presented myself at the security desk. I knew the guard on duty quite well and he knew not just me, but my children by sight and name. We passed the general pleasantries and then I explained that I had left my pass card at home. The guard said, and I quote "No problem, Kate, I can issue you a temporary card right away. I just need two pieces of identification to prove your identity."

At first, I thought the guard was joking, as it was not like he needed to record or copy my identification in any way, and this was a man who speaks and sees me several times a day. Much to my disbelief he was deadly earnest; and though I applaud his dedication in carrying out his duties there comes a point when adherence to a rule falls flat in the face by the dictates of common sense.

My first instinct was to cuff him with my handbag and shout "wake the f*** -up, then there maybe a few more "f**** words and give me the bleeding card", but I restrained myself, only because I knew I would have to continue to face him on a daily basis and I really didn’t want to spend the energy and effort to keep up the hostilities.

So when I read this story in the Toronto Star about the former premier Mike Harris, I knew just how he felt.

"Harris has been given until next Monday to apologize or face possible expulsion from the Vaughan-King-Aurora Conservative Riding Association. He also faces a lawsuit launched by riding president Gabe Spoletini.

"It was the kind of language you would expect from a sailor, not a former premier," Spoletini said. Spoletini said the incident occurred Monday when Harris, who lives in Woodbridge with his girlfriend Laura Maguire, became irate over being asked for the required two pieces of identification at the advance poll, including one that showed his address and signature.

"I heard yelling ... and I heard him say `Just give me the f------ ballot' and then he grabbed it from the woman who was the DRO (the deputy returning officer)," Spoletini said.

"I said, `What's going on here?' He turned around and said, `You can challenge my f------ ballot, you jackass.' I said, `Don't be an a------' and he said to me `You're the biggest a------ of them all.'"

Harris was unavailable for comment yesterday.

Harris spokesperson Deb Hutton disputed Spoletini's version of events, saying the ex-premier did supply two pieces of identification but was asked for a third."

There might be no excuse for rudeness as my grandfather use to say, but I think there should be some kind of dispensation for the rest of us when confronted by the stupidity of others.