Day 2:

The Toonie Man

At our school, we had an event called the Fun Fair. Its main purpose is to help out the school with its budget. The Fun Fair at the time had games, food, and prizes which I was all doing with a good friend of mine. I went to a truck that was selling a certain fried dough pastry that may be region-specific and from an official brand. I chose to buy the chocolate Hazelnut option with the seven dollars my mom had given me. This was perfect as the chocolate hazelnut pastry was about seven dollars according to the vendor there. However, when I was paying the employee the money, one of my toonies had fallen to the ground without me noticing it (in total I had two toonies, a loonie, and eight quarters). The employee bluntly said that I couldn’t get the beaver tail because I only had 5 dollars. The generous guy standing next to me slid a toonie across the counter to me without even giving it a second thought. I gave him his two dollars back because I, fortunately, realized that my toonie was lying on the patches of grass on the concrete floor. That chocolate hazel fried dough pastry was the best snack I have ever had because it got me to think that there are actually good people in the world. To that person, I salute you.  

The Pleasent Discussion

Before COVID-19, I used to go to the Y a lot to swim for fun. Typically, I didn’t converse with strangers when I was changing my attire because it would have probably felt awkward. The only times I have ever spoke to somebody was to ask them to move or if it was somebody familiar. Also, just to make it clear, I despised that room, especially its floor. One time though, I walked into the changeroom on a fine Sunday afternoon well over a few years ago. It was completely empty except for a bald man in what seemed to be his late 30’s. As I was placing my valuables into my locker, I struck a conversation with him. One noticeable physical aspect about him was his prosthetic right leg.  If I recall correctly, he was involved in a lethal accident, I remember hearing his story in admiration and understanding how he persevered through the pain. He was a very nice fellow, but the one thing I took from his character and our chat was his refreshing optimism not only for his life but for the youth’s future.