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9:45 p.m. - 2004-07-27
Negotiations
The young man was sprawled across two benches that faced each other when I stepped on the tain this morning. Given that there wasn't a lot of seating left, I said excuse me and waited for him to sit up and take his feet off the seats. There is a fine for that, but that wasn't the point. I got one of those stares that told me that maybe it wasn't worth the hassle to sit down. He was in his early twenties tops, very well groomed - especially the carrot red hair - and the clothes were very well kept. When he stopped glaring he simply said "Don't look at me" and curled up in a fetal position on the bench facing me. Oi. A couple of other passengers shifted uncomfortably in their seats but said nothing. I just said "ok" as lightly as I could and turned my head toward the window, closing my eyes. At that point I was already closed in on the seat and couldn't move without disturbing him more. Glanced at him a couple of times between the next two stations and could see he was watching for any resistant or angry reaction from me.

When he was satisfied there was no "engagement"he got up and went to the doorway. Stood in the corner facing the wall, talking incoherently to himself,laughing uproariously every so often. Occasionally he would peek around the divider to check if I was "looking at him". He wasn't drunk but was obviously in trouble, barely able to restrain impulsive,inappropriate behaviours, but also seeming to be very much aware that he needed to try. The train was jammed by the second station and there were people close up and personal wherever he turned.

He found one woman who obviously made him feel safer than anyone else and he keyed in on her. Talked away inarticulately, touching the fabric on her purse and her bag gently and seeming to coo a bit over the design and colours. She was watching him warily but took a similar approach to what I had. No eye contact, body turned slightly away but not showing any fear. Everyone else standing in the doorwell bunched up a little closer and let him have as much space as they could. Once downtown he was starting to show some stress as people had to walk close to him to exit the train. He couldn't figure out how to dodge the doors either.

When I got to my stop I walked past him, then went down to the end of the car and tapped on the driver's window from the outside indicating I wanted to talk to him. He opened his door and I told him about the young man. Given what I'd seen of his coping strategies I wasn't too worried about his fellow passengers but I was worried about his own safety. It was as though he had maybe slipped out of the care of the facility where he was likely staying in the morning rush. He didn't appear to be able to discern where he was or what he should do. The driver said he would look after it and I moved on with my morning feeling sorry that a young person like that was missing out on so much of normal human interaction.

I did call Elections Canada when I got in to work since I was still early for work, to advise them about the problems I was having with the one candidate. I had had a couple of nightmares last night about potential scenarios that could happen and needed to feel as though I had done something to defuse the situation. I told them I just wanted the issue noted so that if it got out of hand there would be some record of it. Did I want an intervention or help from them? No not yet, but thanks for asking. It would be better if I could work it out without bringing in the "big guns", less chance of the candidate finding a reason to pick a fight or acting as though he was being victimized. Talked with the agent just before lunch and finally got him to set a time for us to get together. Tomorrow after work - his office. I might ask my assistant to attend with me, but I'm still thinking that over.

Work was very quiet by comparison. The woman in charge of scanning hard copy material into electronic form popped by at about 9 am to address the anomalies that had occurred during scanning. We worked together a year ago when I was doing the work at home project preparing data for a Provincial hearing. I like her a lot, but she seemed a bit disheartened still. Her company was one of the ones bought out by the data management company I work for last year. I think it would be difficult to go from owner to employee - especially in a big operation where it is easy to get lost in the shuffle.

Two appointments with other candidates over the noon hour to collect their paperwork. Zipped across downtown to get to the first agent's office and sat for a bit of a debrief of a few issues. He had some technical questions about the paperwork and the next part of the process for financial reporting. I could only answer some of the queries, because we are told to always refer them to EC's accountants or lawyers for the most accurate information. I told him I would ask on his behalf and get back to him.

Next candidate had asked me to meet hime at the A & W in one of the major malls at the other end of downtown, so I grabbed the train just going by as I left the first building. Good thing, since I was already running a bit late. Made it to the restaurant about seven minutes late. I hate doing that, but the questions raised at the first meeting needed to be dealt with too. The gentleman was very understanding. We had a quick chat about our family histories and how they affected our involvement in the political affairs of our country. He allowed that he had a family connection to our second ever Prime Minister. Talked about how his Father's family had come from England via India then via Ireland to finally settle in Canada. Funny how much of an impact the British Navy had on settlement patterns in this country. The hardships of pioneering looked good compared to more than one stint in His Majesty's navy, it appears. We talked about the likelihood of another election within the near future. I still don't know, but it is a reasonable assupmtion that it will be sooner than later with a minoity government in power. Then again we could be surprised. He said he would likely stand as a candidate again even though he allowed that he knew he had no real chance of winning. He wanted to be certain that his party's views were given the opportunity to be heard. Kind of a courageous stand if you ask me.

Back at work, a lot of give and take between my co-worker and me and the liaison and me. We are all aware that we are supposed to be winding down this project, but none of us is very certain about how long or the way the process is going to be wound up. My supervisor has the call on a lot of the details and we haven't heard from him yet this week. Negotiating with the other companies that want our services is always an ambiguous process. I suspect he doesn't want to say anything prematurely in case the negotiations fail as I've described at other times in my posts dear diary, but I also think he doesn't want it to appear that he or we are taking advantage of our current client by stringing them along. It's usually best to have clear cut information for them so they can plan too. Difficult balancing act, that is. My current liaison has said she would like us to stay, but that is something she will have to work out with my supervisor. Truthfully I would prefer to stay where I am. It's worth a lower wage - yes I am getting paid less - to be treated well by an employer and to be shown how much one's work is valued. The high stress levels at the other contract just aren't worth it to me right now. Given that my supervisor had to work all weekend though I don't think any of us are going to badger him. He'll get to us when he can.

End of the work day I had an appointment with the third agent of a candidate - the one who works in the big financial company one tower away from mine in the same building. Elevator tag and then a quick meeting to wrap things up. I asked her if she had any questions that I could add in to the ones I would be asking on the other agent's behalf; then allowed given her job that she could likely tell me more than I could her. She laughed and agreed but said she thought the process was fair. She said she just told the candidates she looked after to be honest and as helpful to the auditors Elections Canada has and that should be good enough. In most cases I think that is true.

Still managed to catch the train I often take when I run late at my day job. Met one of the women I will be working with again if I start in the other contract as my supervisor has indicated. One of the one's that was a problem last time. She didn't speak to that directly but she seemed less threatened by me and the potential of my presence than she was last time. Maybe things will be better this time - who knows?

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