Reminiscences (2)

10/18/2005 06:17:00 p.m.

So Michaëlle Jean, our new Governor-General, is making her first official visit as the Canadian head of state*, and she chose Manitoba, my province, as her first official destination. ("Travel Manitoba! Just like the queen-by-proxy! See the sights!")

They welcomed her with a twenty-one-gun salute, which reminded me of an exchange I had with a friend back in my university days. He'd just finished watching a funeral scene in Backdraft, newly released on video, and he said to me, "Pat, when I die, I want a twenty-one-gun salute."

Me: I'll see what I can—

Him: Right into my coffin.

Me: [amused and confused silence]

Him: I'm afraid of being buried alive.

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* As she represents the Queen, she is in fact in charge of our government.