Meeting Jack Layton (and Olivia Chow)

I spent a great weekend in Toronto. However, the oddest part of my trip was standing in line in at a Harvey's, only to have Jack Layton line up behind me. I told him I thought the party's campaign to end ATM fees was great and he thanked me and encouraged me to find out more about the campaigns being pursued by the NDP. We chatted for a bit while waiting for our orders and Olivia Chow showed up, blackberry in hand, letting Jack know that they might be late for an event. We wrapped it up and he was on his way to a Chinese New Years Event. The whole encounter reminded me why I would never want to be a politician... always on the go, always being approached by strangers, having groups of people scrutinize your every move and every word. Don't get me wrong, meeting Jack Layton in this context was a novelty and some people genuinely love the spotlight. He was very nice and we had an interesting conversation about class politics and academia, but again, being a politician just isn't for me. Some people think I'm interested in a political career, but I can say with certainty that I am not.