BEWARE THE IDES OF MARCH

 POST # 495

The Ides of March (/aɪdz/; Latin: Idus Martiae, Late Latin: Idus Martii)^[1] is the 74th day in the Roman calendar, corresponding to 15 March. It was marked by several religious observances and was notable for the Romans as a deadline for settling debts.^[2] In 44 BC, it became notorious as the date of the assassination of Julius Caesar, which made the Ides of March a turning point in Roman history.

Last Tuesday, March 15th marked the 2066th anniversary of Julius Caesar's assassination.  For whatever reason, this very old history popped into my head that day.  A lesser known fact was that it was the date for Romans to settle their debts.   

It's that second point that seemed more appropriate for my situation.  Tuesday, March 15th, was the date for my second appearance in court, relating to when I crossed the border back into Canada on July 3rd of last year, without proof of a PCR test in hand.  As readers of this blog are aware, I was issued with a fine of $5750.00, and the purpose of going to court was to set a future date for a trial to argue my case as to why I didn't think that I should have to pay this outrageous amount.  Would I, like the Romans long ago, have to settle my debt with the Canadian government?

I had been mulling over exactly what I might say to the judge.  I thought it might be good to tell the judge that I haven't had an income since January 27th, 2009, which is the truth, and since that time I have been doing volunteer work, taking care of people's pets and homes, which is also true.  My thinking in this regard was that it may elicit a small bit of empathy from the judge.  Perhaps this was hopeful thinking on my part, but I figured that I had nothing to lose by this approach.  In addition to telling the judge my tale, I made sure to "dress up" in my newest looking old thrift store clothes, in order to make a good visual impression at the very least.  If the judge didn't buy my story, at least I was going to be presentable when I told it.

I was sitting in my hotel room, in preparation for my long journey to the courthouse in Surrey, when an email arrived in my inbox at 10:28 a m. from the legal firm that was handling my case for the government.  Before even opening it up, my immediate thought was, "now what?"  Had they decided to increase the fine, or maybe send me straight to jail, or what?  You can imagine my feelings when I finally opened the email, and read the following words:

"Please be advised that a Stay of Proceedings has been entered for the above noted matter.  There will be no need to attend the court for this ticket going forward, nor pay the fine associated with it.  Thank you."

I can't recall how many times I read and re-read those words, and yet I still couldn't believe it.  So I called the person that had sent me the email, and she re-confirmed over the phone, that "yes, Mr. Marcotte it's all true."  I told her that she had made my day, and I wished her a wonderful life going forward. This news certainly put a smile on my face, and by her reaction to my comment about a wonderful life going forward, seemed to put a smile on her face, as I could hear it in her voice.  So everyone was happy.  Having been informed last year that the government had thousands of these cases on the books, my guess is that the woman who confirmed the good news was probably spending her entire day(s) sending out similar emails to other border crossing Canucks.  

So now that that chapter of my life is finally over and done with, I now wonder if this may be a small indication of things going forward?  The real proof from my point of view will be if/when this wandering soul will once again be able to cross into the United States.  As far as that case goes, the jury is still out.  Of course, I have absolutely no control over that outcome, so I just need to put it out of my mind at the moment, and concentrate on what I do best these days, and that is looking after people's pets and homes.  

And on that note, tomorrow it's time to head to Qualicum Beach for a new house sit with a new bonehead named Trixie.  I've already met her, and I think that we're going to get along just fine.  She a very active two year old small German Shepard.  With walking, ball and Frisbee throwing on the agenda, it should be plenty of fun.  And now that Spring has finally arrived, perhaps even the weather might start to improve.  So I am looking forward to getting to know Trixie, and I'm sure she has plenty of things to teach me while I'm there.

In closing, from now on, whenever the 15th of March rolls around, instead of thinking, "Beware the ides of March," I will say to myself, "Ignore the Ides of March."

grateful for every breath,

Paul

The Thoughtful Wanderer