I could probably award this the "Call of the Week", even though it's only Tuesday. I may be tempting fate, but I would wager that no one stupider will call within the next 3 days. Listen to this one, if you enjoy humour...
One of our agents on the Boating Safety line received a call from a French-speaking gentleman from Québec City. This gentleman was making his way upstream apparently, no doubt with dreams of shadowing in the trail of such legendary greats as Pierre-Esprit Radisson and his brother-in-law, Médard Chouart Des Groseillers.
At any rate, this gent was enquiring about what number he had to call, so that the Coast Guard would make the large, ocean going ships which ply the seaway, slow down. Apparently their passage was creating waves which were inconveniencing this budding explorer. When our agent came to quiz me about this request, I was non-plussed. For a moment my brain refused to accept that what I was being told was the truth. Then of course, I laughed. Actually, so did everyone else who heard the question. Clearly our ceaseless pandering to these people's whims, has led to this current state of mind of theirs... Whatever they want, the 'gubmint' will do...
Not to put too fine a point on it, but I informed our young feller that as far as Mr. Man-in-the-Boat was concerned, his job in all of this, was to stay the f*%# out of the way of the big ships and navigate to avoid them and their wake. If the vessel he was in was being perilously rocked by the bigger vessels, this was Nature's way of saying: "Dude... you don't belong here, unless you're bucking for a Darwin Award". Clearly his boat is too small and frail, for navigating these waters. His solution? Apply common sense? Hell, no... I'll call the 'gubmint' and have them change the Earth's rotation to suit my personal wants. As a country, this is our fault. We have led them to expect this of us...
I then offered that this gent might call his regional Marine Communication and Traffic Services office, for information and notices on marine traffic in his area. If nothing else, they might be in a position of telling him straight up to get his friggin' skiff out of the water and take up knitting at home.
One of our agents on the Boating Safety line received a call from a French-speaking gentleman from Québec City. This gentleman was making his way upstream apparently, no doubt with dreams of shadowing in the trail of such legendary greats as Pierre-Esprit Radisson and his brother-in-law, Médard Chouart Des Groseillers.
At any rate, this gent was enquiring about what number he had to call, so that the Coast Guard would make the large, ocean going ships which ply the seaway, slow down. Apparently their passage was creating waves which were inconveniencing this budding explorer. When our agent came to quiz me about this request, I was non-plussed. For a moment my brain refused to accept that what I was being told was the truth. Then of course, I laughed. Actually, so did everyone else who heard the question. Clearly our ceaseless pandering to these people's whims, has led to this current state of mind of theirs... Whatever they want, the 'gubmint' will do...
Not to put too fine a point on it, but I informed our young feller that as far as Mr. Man-in-the-Boat was concerned, his job in all of this, was to stay the f*%# out of the way of the big ships and navigate to avoid them and their wake. If the vessel he was in was being perilously rocked by the bigger vessels, this was Nature's way of saying: "Dude... you don't belong here, unless you're bucking for a Darwin Award". Clearly his boat is too small and frail, for navigating these waters. His solution? Apply common sense? Hell, no... I'll call the 'gubmint' and have them change the Earth's rotation to suit my personal wants. As a country, this is our fault. We have led them to expect this of us...
I then offered that this gent might call his regional Marine Communication and Traffic Services office, for information and notices on marine traffic in his area. If nothing else, they might be in a position of telling him straight up to get his friggin' skiff out of the water and take up knitting at home.
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