ONE From Atlin

ONE of the best things about travelling is the interesting people that you meet. Some are funny, some are kind, some have unusual histories or tales to tell and some are just downright unusual. We call these people Journeymakers because they help to make our journey more interesting, enjoyable and memorable.

There's a very nice, local museum in Atlin, B.C. (which as a point of interest, can only be reached from the Yukon and not from B.C.) that we wandered through on previous trips. Displays feature the towns' history, some local crafts-people present their wares and during our last visit we were given a nice talk by a very knowledgeable and pleasant member of the local historical society.

But, NOT this time! ... things have changed in Atlin! There's a new authority in town!

We were only 10 feet into the building and beginning to browse the first display ... when, we

were suddenly and swiftly accosted by ...

ONE

... a harshly-dressed, short, beady-eyed, shrewish woman. ONE questioned our intentions and demanded evidence of a paid pass to the Town Art Festival. She allowed us, all of ONE SECOND to respond ... then, launched into a one-sided diatribe that went something like this ...

"Well, one isn't sure, how one could possible think, that one would not need to pay for ones' entrance to anywhere these days? Where is one from that one thought one would get in free? Is one from a foreign country - IS ONE???"

Hmmmmmm! Hard to hold back here ...

We tried to explain that we hadn't seen any booths for the Arts Festival that had asked for an entrance fee and also, that the last time we were here, we got into this museum free. We apologized, but it really didn't matter ... ONE, morphed back into her ONEness and continued to chastise us by waving her pointy index finger at our faces. At some point we all sheepishly started backing out the door feeling as if we were six years old again and caught with our hand in the cookie jar. We continued to stutter, stumble and apologize but ONE just kept talking.

It was all actually quite humorous, ONE was definitely a character that we wouldn't soon forget. ONE just never knows who ONE will meet next, does ONE?

If you enjoyed this true story and would like to read about more of the Journeymakers we have met, scroll down the STORIES Left Sidebar to the INTERESTS category and click on Journeymakers.

Note: Original draft post written for a 2005 encounter.

      

                                                                                    Crusty reporting (with a little help from Wry) ...