Waste not ...

Culture shock -

I don't like waste, so that's why I'll take an exacto-knife and cut the neck off a plastic bottle of hand lotion.

Once I've cut the neck off, I'll use a butter knife to scrape the lotion off the inside and then poke the lotion down into the neck of the new bottle, using something like a crochet hook or a knitting needle. It takes time and it can be a bit messy, but for me, it's worth it.

Now, if wasting a bit of lotion in a bottle doesn't sit well with me; try to imagine how much more the waste of a good story rankles. Please remember, every story I hear is not necessarily a page-turner, but many stories I hear have historical merit and shouldn't be lost. To tell a story and not write it down is just sheer waste in my opinion.

Recently, in St. Anthony, a gentleman struck up a conversation with me about the weather, which just happened to be about fog, and more fog. Then, just like that, he slipped into a story about a time he was out in a boat with his father when a fog rolled in. The young fellow and his father couldn't see a thing and, when his father reached into the nuddy bag to get the compass, he realized he'd left it back at the stage. Now, this man told me his father was usually able to navigate with a watch and a compass, but without both instruments, the two of them were stranded. By and by a pod of dolphins swam near the boat, so his father decided to follow them, even though the son thought it a foolish decision. Not long after, the dolphins brought them close enough to the land that they were able to find their way home. "And," he said, "I used to eat dolphin, but after that, never again."

When I suggested this was a great story to write down, he bristled. I told him I write a monthly column (I asked if he had heard of me, he said no) and that I had also worked for a year collecting and compiling stories such as his. I told him his story certainly had historical and cultural merit, but he was resolute, no written story. Yet, in the next breath, he carried on; telling me how some of the old fellers used to judge distance in the fog by the length of a song: they knew if they sang such-and-such a song, they'd have traveled a certain distance. That was intriguing stuff, in my opinion and, although I've related this story to the reader, I won't include the name of the story-teller in deference to his wishes. His story may be a common one anyway; I'm sure similar circumstances have occurred with more than a few fishermen, if they've a mind to tell it.

But the question arises: why wouldn't he want the story printed?

I come across good stories every now and then, but with some folks, the minute I suggest writing them down, or recording them, protestations of 'don't write it!' roll off their tongues, leaving me to wonder where this root of unwillingness stems from. Perhaps they're afraid that if the story is written, someone will point the finger at them and say, "Aha! You're wrong!" Or, worse yet, the story-tellers might be accused of sounding their own horn.

There is evidence everywhere in the communities on the Northern Peninsula of old stores, stages, sheds, fishing gear, lobster pots...all lying in a beautiful state of disrepair and dilapidation; proof of a time gone by. Future generations may return to Newfoundland and examine photographs of structures the wind and weather have since reclaimed, but can you tell me where will they find the cultural tales and stories that flourished years ago, if those stories haven't been written in the pages of a book?

When these grandkids and great-grandkids come back, all they might find, in the way of words, will be a brief epitaph on a headstone in a deserted graveyard, with the year of birth and the year of death, and nothing more than a hyphen in between that great span of years. All those marvellous, colourful stories will lie beneath the sod, with only the grass and the wind to accompany their silent song.

As I said, I don't like waste. So, if your old granddad won't allow a stranger to write his story, I encourage you to start recording or writing it yourself. It might take a bit of time, but it'll be worth it.