This post has nothing to do with PD. It is intended for those students who accompanied Laidlaw teachers to Ottawa, a 45 hour trip of 1,041 miles (1,675km). This was the first Edutrek.
“Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness.” Mark Twain
Firstly, I am compelled to recognize Alan Mason as the driving force behind Laidlaw’s first trip to Ottawa, which Al dubbed "Edutrek". I joined forces with him, and I insisted that we go by train for two reasons:
1. Being locked up together in a train car would require interaction between all students and, fallowing the logic of Mark Twain, you would be forced to live as a "family" and maybe find some value in a student you didn’t care for before embarking on the trip,
2. You would finally get a sense of how huge and wild Canada is. Two days on a train will do that.
We took up every seat but one in our coach. The lone seat was occupied by an elderly gentleman who quietly disapproved of young people in general and his coach mates in particular. He suffered your antics with the occasional snort as you scrambled for sleeping spaces, including the overhead luggage racks. Finally he could no longer remain silent and he took Al aside and quietly the conversation went as follows:
Passenger: You know what those kids are doing up there in those luggage racks?
Al: No. What are they doing?
Passenger: They are rutting, that's what. Rutting!
Al: I will look into it.
We were certain that there was nothing untoward going on, but, trust but verify, and to keep the passenger happy, we looked but found no evidence of "rutting" and were glad to see the passenger get off the train at Capreol.
Arriving in Ottawa, we were met by your billets, led by their teacher, Mister Pierre Landrieu, a name Al could not pronounce so he would refer to him as Pierre Laundromat, but not to his face. (BTW we never billeted again)To save money, Al and I booked a room in a motel not far from the billets' school. This was a rather seedy place so whenever he and I went anywhere by taxi, Al would insist on being dropped off a couple of blocks from the motel so nobody would see us getting out of the cab at the motel.
The motel was a tad rundown and meeting the owner, an older lady wearing a feather boa did not enhance its appeal. It was clean but the room was small, for example when sitting on the toilet, your feet could easily fit into the bath tub.
One evening, to kill time, we decided to go and see The Exorcist to see what all the fuss was about. As the movie went on, we heard screams and other weird noises coming from the audience. I held my hand above my eyes, as if shielding them from the sun, thus affording me the opportunity to look into my palm whenever a scary part came on. Alan watched the whole movie but every so often he would say "Oh my goodness", "Good Lord" or similar phases throughout the movie.
When we got back to the motel, I said I don't believe in the devil and to prove it, I loudly added, if there is a devil, come and take me. I am yours. It is at this point in the story when I retold the details of your week in Ottawa to all the grade 9 students I worked with over the next 29 years at hallowe'en.
I would pick out the girl who appeared to be the most engrossed in the story. I would maneuver my way beside her and when got to the point in the story where I said to the devil "I am yours" I would look into her eyes and loudly say in my most evil voice
BUT AS YOU CAN SEE NOTHING HAPPENED TO ME!!!!
That always got my desired reaction - a loud scream and a condemnation of my ruse.
I would never have gotten to have that laugh if it were not for a seedy, tiny room, boredom and a trip to the movies on the very first Edutrek.
I have told your story many times and made your class famous every year that I taught. Thanks for the memories
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