he tells a good story

many years ago i worked on the brock university student newspaper. in the late fall we printed a letter to the editor which generated a huge response, perhaps the largest in the paper's history.

the letterwriter wasn't a student or staff member. he had come to the campus during frosh week and decided to stay for a few months. he slept in the seminar rooms, showered at the gym, ate from the tons of food left over on abandoned plates in the cafeteria, read in the library and attended lectures and events. all gratis.

now, as winter was approaching, he was on his way to warmer climes, but before leaving he wanted to thank us for our hospitality.

the strongest reaction came from the campus police, locally known as the "Brock Five-O." all of a sudden the friendly, open campus wasn't so open, or friendly anymore. you needed passes to be in the halls after 9 pm, and all the seminar rooms were locked and other restrictions were put in place. the campus police are charged with student safety and they took the matter very seriously, of course.

we got another letter in the spring from the same writer, with very good evidence (same paper, same manual typewriter, same signature), saying it was all hoax and how much the writer had enjoyed reading and watching the debate.

back in the fall, amidst all the raging debate whether this was really possible, and whether this was a hoax, i remember the university president's comment: "he tells a good story."