Volume LXI: The Matrix and My Tricks – What the Magician is Hiding Under His Hat

Happy Lucky Wednesday, world!!!  Ah, it is a very Lucky Wednesday for Me already, as I Will be Viewing a couple of potential apartments later today.  One of them Will be on Columbus.  We’ve all heard of Christ-of-Her (Christopher) Columbus, and We all know how I feel about coincidences…

I had a very busy day today.  Every Tuesday I meet with ‘Super Power,’ Danny Power to view the local apartment listings.  We did not have much luck this morning, as Kijiji was not cooperating.  For whatever reason, every search query We entered came back empty; it appeared as though Kijiji may have been offline.  I never let these things discourage Me.  Although ideally I would have preferred to be searching for My own apartment some seventeen months ago (when I was first ‘eligible’ with respect to city requirements for subsidy), I am confident I Will be in My own place before June.

The Universe seems to have a Magical Way of aligning My ambitions with the anniversary of My name day, and this June 5 Will be the two year anniversary of My move to Ottawa to advocate for the abolition of homelessness in Canada.  I’ve also suggested that 2 (II) is a Door in Magic speak, so it seems appropriate I Will be celebrating the occasion with Keys to the Door of a new apartment, no?  I suppose soon We Will see.

After My visit with Super Power’s, I decided to visit the Seven Nation Army…  Oops, I meant the Salvation Army.  My favourite musician of the moment, Jack White (White Stripes and Three Man Records) hails from a rather large family, and his mother once frequented the Salvation Army.  Allegedly, as a child, Jack White thought the Salvation Army was called the ‘Seven Nation Army’, and most modern rock fans Will be familiar with Jack’s immensely successful single of the same name.

Anyway, I headed to the ‘Seven Nation Army’ to pick up My modest monthly cheque.  There were a stack of them piled up behind the window and in front of Morgan, a front line worker.  I, courteously, as King to Morgan to check for My cheque, and she, as King of Me, to re-Mind her of My Calling (name).  I did, and she promptly replied, “no, it’s not here.”

I was as King to her if she could maybe take a look before swearing it to be so.  She responded with attitude, tall King down to Me, “I just looked through them, it’s not here!”

Still kindly, “Humour Me by taking another look, please?”

She sighs with attitude, rolls her eyes at Me, and picks up the stack, leafing through them as if I had just asked her to promise Me her first born child.  This time I rolled My eyes, admittedly losing patience, “Have they not arrived yet?”

“Yes, they arrived.”

“And You are suggesting mine is not here?”

Once again, she rolls her eyes with attitude, shaking her head slightly as if My Quest-Ion irritates her, “You know, there are Seven departments here.  They’ve arrived, but they haven’t been sorted yet.”

‘Yeah, well, a Seven Nation Army couldn’t hold Me back, where is My cheque!?’, I am thing King to My Self, though I say nothing.  Thankfully, a more senior level employee notices Me ‘not looking impressed’ at the front desk and decides to as King of Me if she can assist with anything.  I mention that I’m here for My cheque.

“Oh, okay, I’ll go get it for You.”

“Thank You, Mimi.”

“You didn’t think We were withholding it from You, did You?” asks Morgan.

“Oh no, I’m sure You would never do that”, I reply, somewhat facetiously.

Although I was only there for a few moments, I was quickly re-Minded of how Grateful I am to not be there now.  Believe Me, there are absolute Angels there, too.  But one staff member like this, is enough to ruin some People’s entire day – and she seems to take pleasure in doing so.  An individual like this, should never be allowed to deal with the public, much less individuals dealing with mental, physical, and/or addiction issues, and management often seem to condone this type of attitude.

There are exceptions, of course.  There is a supervisor by the name of Dave (last name unknown to Me) whom, in My humble opinion, should be running the place.  He is firm when it’s necessary, but he is always fair, and always treats every individual with dignity and respect.  He is an example the rest of the Salvation Army staff should follow.

The Salvation Army does have a habit of withholding cheques from clients.  While I was I client, I inquired about it once, “So, You are telling Me the cheques are here, were delivered before 11:00 am, and at 4:00, You still haven’t had a chance to sort them?”

“That’s right, You’ll just have to wait!” was the snooty reply.

“So, You believe the Salvation Army has the right and capacity to interfere with government issued mail delivery?”

Dave overheard, asked Me what was going on and I explained the situation.

“Thanks Sean, I’ll take care of it.”

And he did.  Seconds later he had a stack of cheques in his hand and handed them over to the front desk with instructions to distribute them immediately.  It was never again an issue as long as I was there.  Unfortunately, it appears they’ve resumed their previous policies, though I’m confident it has nothing to do with Dave.

The reason I’m mentioning this, is shorty after leaving, I met a Man I’d met in My time at the shelter who suffers from serious mental health issues.  He was Happy to see Me, and was complaining to Me that he couldn’t buy a coffee because the Salvation Army wouldn’t give him his cheque – they told him it hadn’t arrived yet and wouldn’t be there until tomorrow.  He also told Me he doesn’t believe them.  I’m guessing he’s right.

This is how they take advantage of People with mental health issues.  The man won’t do anything about it because he doesn’t know how to assert his rights without getting angry, and that Will just get him kicked out.  For all I know, they Will tell him the same thing tomorrow.  Needless to say, I bought him a coffee and sat and chatted with him for as long as I could, though admittedly, it wasn’t very long (maybe fifteen to twenty minutes).

We went to the Second Cup and he began (loudly) telling the patrons that I am Superman, as King of Me if he could touch My head for Good Luck.  I allowed him to before telling him I had to be on My Way.  He replied by as King of Me if I would touch his head and Bless his Soul, telling Me he really needs it.  How could I say no?  I Gave him a Blessing and went on My Way.

Kind of fuelled My passion to close the place down and do everything I can to make sure these People get the housing and support they really need.  When I came home, I routed through My massive stack of legal documents I have concerning the Salvation Army and their contractual agreements with the city of Ottawa and found this.

There is one Part of this very long contractual agreement I would like to Draw every One’s attention to in Order to Paint a Picture of Possibilities.

“general liability insurance…”, “…not less than $5,000,000.00 inclusive per occurrence for bodily injury, death, and damage to property including loss of use therof.

And of course, Magic number 37 says:

The general liability insurance shall include coverage for:

(e) Personal injury liability.

How many People has the Salvation Army Booth Centre injured as a service provider for Ottawa’s People?

Told You I had some Tricks under My Hat. 😉

Ah, Wonder Full Lucky Wednesday, world!!!

Love and Blessings,