4. Timothy’s Unusual Week in Review

Sat. Sept 20 | I catch the midnight Go Train home. Transferring to the bus to take me to Ajax, I notice this one guy picking on another. When we get off the bus in Ajax, the person being picked on confronts the person, and this quickly escalates. The fella is hit and knocked unconscious. At this point, I see someone run up from behind me, who I thought was running in to break up the fight, but instead, upon reaching the scene, kicks the unconscious person in the head. A crowd gathers and administers first aid, the ambulance comes, people on cell phones have called 911 and reported the license plate number of the car that was waiting to pick up the person who was being picked on (and who hit the guy).

Sun. Sept 21 | I get my passport photos taken at Costco. The pictures remind me that I need a haircut.
Jade comes over and I help her with some stuff. We buy groceries and eat a wonderful meal. I miss seeing The Gathering Storm on CBC.

Mon. Sept 23 | In town for a YYZ Board Meeting, I rent The Gathering Storm from Queen St video.
In a daze after a contentious Board Meeting, I neglect to pay attention to the traffic lights and am almost hit by a white SUV while crossing the street by Union Station. A caught in the headlights moment is followed by a little dance anticipating dodging this environmentally insulting several ton behemoth, which nevertheless has a good set of brakes, and does a little dance of its own as it skids to a halt. Chalk that one up to luck, and catch the train.
I watched The Gathering Storm and enjoyed it.

Tues. Sept 24 | A police officer shows up at the door wanting to speak to me. He delivers a subpoena for me to testify in court on Thur. Oct 2, regarding a motorcylce accident I witnessed in March.
I tried to watch Tarkovsky’s Solaris but halfway through I was bored and stopped it.

Wed. Sept 25 | While ridding the Go Train into work, an older man got on with bags and banged on the overhead thinking there was storage up there. I pointed to the empty seats across from me, and he accepted. This prompted an handshake and he asked my what I was reading (The Virgin Blue by Tracy Chevalier). He drops a God booklet on the table in front of me. I say thank you, and go back to my book. He sits down and talks with the straightlaced freaks he got on with (why do these people who identify with christianity have such a creepy fashion sense?) Then he returns for the sunglasses and hat he left at my table. Sitting down he asks me where I’m from, and then asks my name. “Timothy” I say. “Timothy, like in the Bible!?” I nod . “Tell me, is Timothy a born again Christian?” I say no. He asks me what I believe, and I mumble something about following Catholicism. He starts that this isn’t enough, I need to be born again, I need the salvation of Jesus. I ask, “How do you know?” and he says it says so in the Bible. “But that’s just a book like this one,” I say, holding up the novel. Of course he doesn’t agree, and starts to reply, when I lose my cool. I bang on the table with my right hand and say, “Listen sir, I’m on the train here going to work, trying to read my book, and I don’t want to talk about this Christian shit. If I’m going to Hell it’s my business, not yours, so you go sit over there”, pointing to seat from which he’s come. He raises his hands are raised in submission, and says, I respect you for saying that, I’ll leave you alone. With regard to religion there’s commentary and interpretation and the history – that I find fascinating. But proselytizing I find insulting to one’s intelligence.
I tried to finish watching Solaris but it put me to sleep as all Tarkovsky movies tend to do to me.

Thu. Sept 26 | This day was safely conventional.

Fri. Sept 27 | I go downtown to meet with Jin and Jon to go to Kitchener, which is a total waste of our time. We then return to the city to party all night.

Sat. Sept 28 | Returning to Ajax on the train, I have a conversation with an 18 year old girl who is studying journalism, since she would one day like to either start a magazine or a bookstore. The conversation is pleasant until she begins to describe her fascination with vampires, martial arts, weaponry, and being the witness to shootings and decapitations (“when I was 7, a man was working on his van when it suddenly fell on him and his head popped off, and I asked my mother, ‘is that going to go back on?’ ‘uh, no, let’s go in the house'”) in addition to the story of a friend’s father who had worked as a correspondent in “the west bank or somewhere in the middle east” who, following a hot tip, went to a certain location at a certain time, heard a dumptruck appear, do it’s business and leave, and upon investigation found a mound of freshly decapitated heads. “He’s been in therapy ever since, he can’t sleep well; every time he closes his eyes, he sees the open eyes of the heads staring up at him”.