The Jig Is Up!

Nothing in this post is fiction. Seriously.

First off, I should give you some background. Back in Augst, I got my nipple pierced. As recommended, I've been applying a sea salt solution to help it heal. The sea salt was only available in a large, 2 kg bag, so when I travelled to New York, I took a smaller amount in a ziplock bag. Each application requires such a small amount of salt that I've been working through that little bag-full ever since. For convenience, I leave it out on my kitchen counter.

Today was in-suite fan coil servicing day in my building.

When I got home from work this evening, one of the women from the property management office was waiting in the hallway near my door, along with four people that I'd never seen before. As I walked past, one of them joked that they were tax collectors, but the property manager reassuringly said that they weren't there for me.

When I stopped to open my door, one of the other four suggested that maybe she had been mistaken, said my name, and asked if that was me. I said yes. That's when he pulled out his badge and identified himself as being from the Toronto Police Service. And that's when I started to shake.

Immediately my mind started racing, trying to figure out why four plain-clothed officers would be waiting for me outside my door. He explained that, when my suite had been entered earlier in the day, the contractor had seen a bag containing white powder, and he asked if I wouldn't mind getting it so that he could take a look.

I grabbed the bag of salt and explained what it was and why I had it. He took a sniff and seemed satisfied. Relief.

The property manager said that she had thought that I was someone else -- she had described a taller, older man, dressed a suit.

One of the officers commented that they couldn't believe me until they saw the piercing. Well, eager to prove my innocence and, frankly, always happy to show off my new addition, I lifted up my shirt and showed them. They seemed amused, and they thanked me for my time, apologized for any inconvenience, and were off.

I was still shaking at dinner 20 minutes later.