"Bill, look at me."

Pointing at one of her eyes, that's what my dear friend used to say to our boss, Bill P, when he was the federal director in charge during Expo 86.  She used this expression when he came up with some extraordinarily senseless notion -- which was usually every day.  She could get away with it because she was working for the Minister of Transport at the time; the rest of us were bureaucrats who had to shut up and toe his fatuous line.

Whenever "A" delivered this line during a meeting, I could not look at her because I knew I would burst out laughing.  But it always worked because he would back down when she clarified which way was up and which way we were going.  In fact, I used to meet with her before meetings to ask if she would put forth my ideas so he would approve them.  That's how I pushed through what I wanted done, through A.  It was so refreshing. 

Over the years, A and I have kept in touch and see each other intermittently whenever we can.  One of those occasions just happened when she came to Calgary for Easter.  What a time we had!  After Calgary, we hit Banff and had a ball.  "Banff has lost its class," she remarked as we strolled along the main drag.  I had to agree.  The outfits!  The shoes!  Hideous!  Yep, the scenery is magnificent, but people have lost all ability to dress for an occasion.  It's jeans, leggings, sneakers, hoodies and sweat shirts. 

Sad.