Remembrance Day ... All Screwed Up

Okay, so I go to some small town yesterday (Moosomin), where we're going to conduct Remembrance Day ceremonies. First we head to a Victoria Cross (highest Canadian honor) winner's grave site and hold a quick ceremony there. Our drill was atrocious, because we haven't done any in a while.

Get on the bus, go to the Legion (which is a building in every bloody town across Canada for army vets to congregate). We conduct a ceremony there. During the ceremony, the flag bearers come in (color party), deposit the flags as per, then one of the bearers, a senile old man, starts an argument up right in the middle of the whole thing because an old woman "stole" his seat when there were more than a dozen available to him to sit in.

Finish up the ceremony, then head to the cenotaph where we conduct more atrocious drill and look like fools. The Air Cadets looked even more ridiculous than us, though, so it wasn't so bad. Afterwards, back to the Legion for drinks.

Back at the Legion, an old man comes up and talks to me. Begins talking about Stalin. I think 'cool, I'm gonna get a story about WW2.' The guy was old enough, in his 90's or something and still walking. Well, he launches into his story about Stalin, then switches half way to talking about gutting camels to get the cold water out from inside them.

I can only stare blankly for a moment as my mind attempts to put together just exactly how he can go from talking about Stalin to talking about gutting camels for cold water. Before I can even ask him about this illogical leap, he asks me how fridges work.

I tell him, since I do know how a fridge works. Thing is, after I tell this old man, he tells me I don't know what I'm talking about. Then he says, "do you know that old French guy who took over most of the world?" I stop, wondering for a moment, the hazard a guess and say "Napoleon?", to which he goes, "Yeah! I knew him real well." It was at about that point I started ignoring the old man.