The Small Tale of “Letting Go” (!)

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I like the expression “letting go”. In every sphere of our life, it’s always the hardest lesson to assimilate; however, it’s undoubtedly the most beneficial. Letting go always catches us in less frequented places, especially when travelling…

A few months ago, comfortably perched on the London Manor second floor, I was trying to get rid of all the expectations I could have about Australia. I thought I was able to clear my mind, I felt ready, fresh for a new country. Ahhh, overestimation…

Ronald
I believed, well hidden around my cortex, I would find myriads of hip and politicised, recycled and fair trade Internet cafés Down Under. Well, I was wrong! We seek, we seek, and it’s complicated. And then, we heard, or rather we tried not to hear our Spanish hostel friends’ advice: (read as if in a dream, voice coming from far away, almost a whisper) mmmm, yadayadayada, McDonald’s, free internet, very good coffee. No, I didn’t hear, sorry no compute like Dédé would say. But, after days on the dryness of the information highway, the big yellow M was shining too intensely under the South coast sun. We thought to ourselves: We can try, as long as we head for the darkest corner and don’t buy anything. That’s it, we made our first step: we parked the car among the hustle and bustle of young families so happy to get their Big Mac. But, what’s going on? Every employee is wearing a clown costume with angel wings. It’s quite a comeback to fast food territory for us, today is November 14 and it’s the one and only McHappy Day, when you can win fabulous prizes if you make a donation to sick children’s charities. We try to thread our way incognito to the back of the restaurant, and suddenly, a celestial voice trumpets from outside: “G’day mates! ” … It’s him in the flesh, Ronald McDonald… we blush. For Marc and me, it’s our first encounter with the mythical character. He’s coming to our small table, the nicest red smile on a white face. We realize that under the costume, there is a 27 year-old or so sexy surfer. He sits down with us as we get a brighter shade of red in the face. He starts to write on the keyboard saying he wants to skype with somebody, everyone around laughing, managers taking pictures. Ronald McDo is the coolest guy in the world. Honestly, I’m not lying when I say I’d like this guy to be my friend. He promises I’ll be back soon. We take a breather, pleased with our adventures at the king of fast food! Well, finally, Ronald came back to talk to us about Quebec politics, yep! Get this, a discussion about Quebec’s independence, in a beach McDo, with no one else than Ronald!

There was more to my ‘’letting go’’ story, but, I let myself wander! I’ll end this by saying that today I was on the MOST BEAUTIFUL BEACH OF THE WORLD, full of boulders with almost nobody around! Furthermore, today was my first day behind the wheel on the left side of the road… ah!

See HIS view
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