Well I am not sure if everyone knows this… but I was born and raised in Halifax, Nova Scotia. What that means takes up more room than just one blog post… but… I did something "the other day" that made me chuckle and say.. "I am going to go Haligonian" all over that person… admittedly I have not said, nor done it, for a very long time…. and I got to thinking…..what does that mean really… and something else that spurred on the reflection was Dwight saying.. "what the heck are you talking about?"!
So why are you a Haligonian and not a Halifaxian..? The city in Nova Scotia was named after George Montague-Dunk, 2nd Earl of Halifax. There is a city it the UK called Halifax and it is said that the name for the city is derived from the Saxon words "Halig" and "faex", meaning "holy hair". Apparently there was an unfortunate incident with a virgin and a beheading and her hair was later revered as holy. Go figure……..Interestingly, apparently the village of Halifax was also called "Horton", from another Saxon word for hair, "Haer" and "ton" (a town)… some say that it was named after Lord Halifax..I like my story better.…..just a side but interesting don't you think……?
To answer the question above…..… who the heck want's to be called a Halifaxian? That just doesn't make any sense!
I need to start with where I was when this exchange took place…. well it must be understood that this is not the first time I have had one of these thoughts, I normally contain the urge…. :-) In this case I was in the grocery store… so many things happen in a grocery store… chance meetings, guilt free theft of grapes, endless unnecessary time in line waiting for seniors to count change, of and lets not forget the waiting for people to finish squeezing the various fruits
available….. !
Unfortunately today I had one of the worst types…. THE CELL PHONE TALKER! In the produce section nonetheless….weaving in and out of the tomatoes, apples and grapes.. touching, looking and talking…...with complete disregard for those of us wanting to actually BUY anything…. So why get so upset.. well.. she cut me off, not once… not twice..not even three times… but when I banked the corner and went for my leaf lettuce she was there again…!
So that did it….. did I lash out… no… did I even get mad… no… did I throw my leaf lettuce in her face and say "talk to that!"… admittedly no…. knowing it was highly inappropriate to react that way I controlled myself and gave a stern, but Canadian, stare… but what's important is that I know what I could have unleashed, but chose not to…… the hard core, deep rooted, emotional instability that comes from being a Haligonian……... I would describe it as a cross between a red neck and someone who has been lost as sea for years.... its the ability to go from zero to bitch in 3 seconds, also described as someone who can engage Genghis Khan and possibly win :-)…….
I can not honestly say that I know why we have this trait… its often overlooked, masked by our outgoing friendly accent, our willingness to drink beer with just about anyone, even our unbiased treatment of people who actually work hard….. But what I do know is that its a trait that must be controlled, in the wrong hands at the wrong moment it can be cataclysmic!
So I go through my days knowing that I could unleash my Haligonian wrath at any moment and feel confident in my ability to control it all through my focus, concentration, and caring……. unless of course… I am not focused, not concentrating…… and really don't care……. don't worry… that can't possibly happen very often :-)
Till next time…….happy chatting……
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