Stumbling Blocks

I passed my citizenship test with flying colours (red, white, and blue, but in a different configuration) and like a Canadian/American dual citizen buddy of mine said about her test, it was surprisingly easy and I'm sure I know more now about the country than the average native.

Perfectionist that I am, I was disappointed to learn the one answer that stalled me slightly, and that I changed before hitting "SUBMIT," was incorrect. ("Submit" is really such a harsh word when you are petitioning a governmental entity for permission to reside in their country.) [Test taking hint: Don't second guess yourself, there's a good chance your first instinct was correct. Your welcome.] I mentioned to Danny, my friendly test moderator and document processor, that I knew which question it was I had wrong when he announced my results.

"When did the White Australia policy end?" I blurted out.

Danny, a black man with possibly some Asian ancestry, raised his eyebrows, cocked his head and gave me a look that indicated he may have heard the question as, "When did they start letting you people in?"

A minute or two after I said it and realized how it sounded, I decided to play dumb (instead of the real dumb I had inadvertently played), figuring anything I added to the conversation at that point would only make it worse.

I've begun filling out the application paperwork, but need Elle's passport to submit (there's that word again), so that will hold us up another month or so.


If knowledge can create problems, it is not through ignorance that we can solve them.

-- Isaac Asimov