Spooky Tourists

Yesterday I bought Aki a baseball bat at the St. Vincent de Paul thrift store. When I left work to catch the bus downtown, I was of course carrying it in my hand. A man and a woman, obviously two tourists, were walking very slowly on the sidewalk in front of me. Those of you who know me know that I walk very quickly, even with my gimpy leg, and that sometimes I don't have much notion of personal space. So in a moment I am right behind them, wondering why the woman is wearing a wool sweater that buttons up the back - was this deliberate, or did she put it on backwards as some gesture of rebellion against sartorial convention and efficiency? What does she do when there's no one around to button up her sweater for her? Why? Just tell, me, WHY?

Suddenly the woman glances back, and sees this grim-looking guy dressed all in black, big boots, carrying this baseball bat and walking very close behind her. Double take; I keep walking. Our little procession is almost at the bus stop and as I stop, I accidentally hit the end of the bat against the metal signpost *CLANG* and this time both of them turn and look at me. They keep walking and look back again. I just stand there ignoring them, and the bus comes a moment later.

I hope I gave them a story to tell back wherever they came from about the Freak in Black who menaced them outside their hotel with a huge club!

Welcome to Victoria, suckers....