The Third Part of Chapter 15: Past and Future

School had finished an hour and a half previously, and after doing some calculus problems, which presented her no difficulty, Angelina was working at the checkout counter of the local Zellers. It had been a normal, boring day, and it was very cold outside; winter’s first snow had just fallen, and the cold air blowing in from outside whenever the doors were open was just a bit uncomfortable. She looked up, and saw a pretty, pregnant woman, who looked about fifteen years older than herself; Angelina could somehow sense that she was sad.

“How are you today?” This question was a part of the convention of service with a smile, and presented the illusion, however insincere, that the store staff cared about their customers. In this case, however, Angelina had a genuine interest and semi-passive concern.

“Fine,” said she in an unconvincing way. She had taken items that would be suited to babies: a small blue shirt, pyjamas, a knit toque, and baby slippers.

“That’s all then?”

“Yes,” said she, mechanically. She paid for the items, and then left the store, walking into the gathering cold. It was only 4:30, but the sun was already down, and the parking lot was getting dark. She thought this time of year was particularly miserable; it was cold, and the snow too shallow on the ground to permit cross-country skiing or sufficiently cover all of the dead and dormant plants.


On the following Monday, Mario was at work at Food Basics, when he heard news from some piece of gossip as dropped by an employee named Nadia who was working at a cash register.

“I heard on the radio that they just called an election; Meach’s government fell on a confidence motion,” she said. She was talking to the five of them who were working there; she had heard this while listening to the CBC, which she always kept playing at a low volume on her pocket radio.

“Really? What did the confidence motion say?”

“It was a bill to advance a spending program focussed on improving law enforcement and conservation efforts at national parks. It was a routine sort of thing, you know. Anyways, Meach had the temerity to throw in some provision about financing the army that was politically contentious, and the opposition took him up on the opportunity to topple the government, and now we’re in an election campaign,”

“It’s an election campaign about nothing, in other words,” said Mario, who would really prefer to return to work reviewing the job application and accompanying résumé front of him.

“I think the opposition have wanted an excuse to vote the government down for a while; they’re always saying that Meach has spent too long in power,”

“Maybe,” said Mario, attempting to feign disinterest. “Busy day?”

“You know it,” said Nadia.

“Lunch is nearly over; perhaps you should get back to the cash register,”

He called the applicant out of courtesy: “Thank you for your application, it looks very good, but we don’t have any position for you. I hope you find a job soon.” These were well-practiced lines for Mario, having been recited and iterated countless times, though he could never really get comfortable saying it.


Given that it was a minority government, the election period promised to be exciting, with many speeches and promises by politicians, as well as the unintentional gaffes, missteps, misquotes and mistakes that would be picked apart with relish and without mercy by opposing politicians and comedians. Mario thought that this would provide for some very entertaining news, besides allowing the general public, in the great exercise of their collective opinions, their say in how the country was run, all the while being confronted with a variety of challenging issues, including the environment, taxes, social services, and accountability. He then tried to recall a meme he had read on the Internet; it was something saucy about the Prime Minister, but it just escaped him; perhaps it was irrelevant, and it sounded outlandish anyway.

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