Wednesday Night #1305 – Message from Sam Totah

Wednesday nights 25th anniversary AND Reasonable accommodation!
First and foremost hearty and warm congratulations to the hosts of Wednesday nights –who entertained, educated, cultured many of their guests – without distinction of race, creed, colour, religion and sexual orientation – one has to celebrate also their contribution to the Canadian mosaic of nationhood– in this year of the 25th anniversary of the Canadian Charter of

Rights and Freedoms.
I am sure they added their marks – in their own distinctive way – to what many people call Canadian tolerance or the Canadian multicultural society we live in.True, the Nicholsons – known better by their first names David and Diana – are the perfect hosts, not so indifferent to the names and/or professional designation of their guests and they treat each and everyone of them by one title superior to their current ones – Mr. Minister, Hon. Judge, Maitre, Doctor, Mr. Mayor etc., some are true while others they make up to give flair and substance to what the individual has to say.
While giving credit where credit is due, I will be remiss if I do not acknowledge the contribution of David & Diana Nicholson’s technical capabilities to add flair and substance to the Wednesday Nights – including the often-visited world wide web page – in informing their guests of what goes on both outside and inside the world of their Wednesday night discussions –excluding no one from their long list of friends.
That of course brings me to the current subject of « reasonable accommodation ». David and Diana have been accommodating their version for some 25 years or in real figures some 1305 times (and in the Westmount enclave of the WASP bastion), and without thinking for a moment that their weekly gatherings needed a set of resolutions as set forth by the small municipality in Québec … a town with a population smaller than the number of friends David has in his e-mail address book – the only condition set to attend the Wednesday Nights Salon, one that is not even in writing, is to bring a bottle (not an empty one, mind you!) – and if you forget one at your first attendance – two will be accepted the next time around. Case closed. The Wednesday nights rolls on without change of rules in the middle of the game. That is a perfect way to respond to the current version of « reasonable accommodation » for guests of all creeds and persuasions to debate current subjects of interest under the banner and hammer of Maitre D’ David Nicholson’s put up or shut up internal rules. Voilà, in a nutshell what I dOWN to remember from the Wednesday Nights I have attended and enjoyed as being part of this « elite » group while I do not share all views expressed and have reservations on some economic and political predictions.

Respectfully submitted,

Sam Totah
Initiator of the written record of these memorable evenings!
March, 2007