He made me do it

 

If a sign says, "keep out," John's first reaction is to ask me to pose violating it. Here I am in Pacific Spirit Park on Monday morning, ignoring a "bridge closed" sign. Photo by John Denniston.

I am a very law-abiding person. I don’t even jaywalk, much, and then only with great wariness. But I live with a former news photographer whose livelihood depended on a certain facility for, shall we say, bending the rules. Outwitting the authorities was a regular – and to John, a most enjoyable – aspect of doing the job.

Now that we’re in gentle retirement, we’ve carried on with our lifelong habits. If a sign says “do not enter,” I don’t.  John’s first response is: “Why not?” Then, “Is there a picture there?” And finally, “Carol, walk past that sign and turn around for the camera.”

These little violations are always trivial, but it’s interesting to reflect that if anybody was paying attention, I’d definitely be the scofflaw of the couple. And that John has the evidence to prove it.

There was shade and a rock to sit on at the Long Harbour ferry terminal on Saltspring Island in June. Who knew it was beyond a "no public access" sign? Photo by John Denniston. 

At SFU's Burnaby campus last winter. A slippery slope, a "no trespassing" sign, and me. How could John resist? Photo by John Denniston.