On Monday, Scott Gordon (shown on far left attending the "Cheezy Tourist Party 2006") will have his "bar call" and then become a lawyer of the most legally recognized sort. Now, it's important to remember that this is not like "last call" for those that were confused by the title. Apparently, at these "bar calls," the inductee is sort of "roasted" in front of a group of legal types (including a judge) and then given a license to practice law. As part of Scott's "roasting", his girlfriend Joanne asked his friends to illustrate Scott's ability to be a competent lawyer through some of the stories that have become legendary among those that know him best. Here is a story that I still think of once in a while, and it always brings a smile.
Years ago, when Scott was a broke student (hmmm... not much has changed except for that student part after today), he used to dream of the perfect summer job to not only pay tuition fees for the following school year of university courses, but also to provide the type of lifestyle that a decent student needs. Scott, being a decent student in the Faculty of Arts, noticed that a large sub-section of his friends attending university devoted their summers to journeying into the remote regions of Canada and ultimately making large sums of money treeplanting (the money always seems larger at the beginning of the season than at the end). So having been hired on with the same treeplanting company as his friends, Scott trekked off into the wilderness to earn his fortune and get a taste for the outdoor life that had been eluding him in terms of employment up to this point in time.
His first treeplanting contract led him to Choiceland, Saskatchewan. Then the next stop was Whitecourt, Alberta, otherwise known as the rain belt of Alberta.
The fact that this was the first summer of "planting" for Scott did not hinder his unique and individualist approach to his temporary profession in terms of camp life. While many of his peers had slightly more "planting" experience, Scott tended to follow his own gut instinct regarding many aspects of the treeplanting daily routines and methods of approaching the outdoor living arrangements that exist in the Canadian wilderness.
Now, without over-emphasizing the importance of the tent to the average treeplanter, more important than this is the tent location within camp. While some like to pick a more secluded spot that will highlight beautiful surroundings, others choose their tenting spot based on practicality, or even misplaced logic. This brings us to Scott.
Upon arriving at our camp location outside of Whitecourt, each of us proceeded to find a suitable site for our tents. The vast majority of us (except for Scott) found there were many excellent places to set up our makeshift homes for an extended stay in a nearby wooded area. However, Scott (despite repeated calls and recommendations for him to join the group) chose to remain an individual. This is a credit to his unique approach to life, that he stuck to a path that was not even trodden on by anyone prior to his arrival ( a trait that, I hear, may serve him well in law).
Despite repeatedly dealing with logical questions from the group, Scott chose to set up his tent on a rocky hill top that was relatively close to the camp mess hall and staging area for morning departures to the cut blocks. His logic was rational and systematic in its approach. Scott was convinced that the rocks would provide solid protection from the mud and water run-off that frequently plagued this northern Alberta area. His location would also allow for the latest possible sleep-ins before scrambling to get ready to go to work each day.
It was a brilliant plan and few could find fault with it as for the next week Scott would always arrive late for breakfast and still be ready to work each day. I must say, many of us were impressed by this "rookie" who was breaking his own path (a trait that will serve him well in the legal profession, or so I assume).
Yes... everything was going so well for Scott. And then it rained really heavily one fateful evening. And kept raining.
The next morning Scott was already in the mess hall for breakfast long before any of us. Unfortunately, this appearance also coincided with everything Scott usually would have left in his tent. He was wet, his clothes were wet, and it turned out he had a river running through his tent for most of the night. As it turns out, the air mattress Scott had purchased from Canadian Tire earlier that summer had become a flotation device. Scott had actually set up his tent on a run-off site that gathered a large amount of water from the surrounding hill country, and had to move his tent in the driving rain a span of about 15-20 feet to evade the rushing river in which his tent was situated. Needless to say, we all had a chuckle as Scott's clothes didn't fully dry for about 4-5 days as the rain continued to pour down on us.
Yes... this sort of trial and error approach will serve Scott well in his legal career.
It's been a long time in the making! Congratulations!
