Slippers for a Border Guard

When I cross the border for work and tell the border guard the kind of work I do – over the years this has included online magazine editor, book author, print magazine editor, freelance writer and editor – and in what industry – yarn crafts – I’ve been asked some pretty memorable follow-up questions.

Perhaps the most memorable was from the moustachioed border guard several years ago who absolutely lit up when I told him I worked in crochet. I mean, he went from all-serious-McSeriouspants to, like, delighted fan boy in under a second.

He said to me, “Maybe you can help me! In the ’70s I had THE BEST pair of crocheted slippers. They were the best. I loved them. I’ve been looking for a pair ever since. Do you know where I can find some?”

Oh, the pain of breaking a boarder guard’s heart.

“Have you tried eBay?”

Of course he’d tried eBay. He’d scoured flea markets.

Well. I think I may have found his slippers in an ad from a now-defunct company in the Fall/Winter 1976-1977 issue of McCall’s Needlework & Crafts. They look pretty darn perfect to me. If you’re crossing from Canada into the U.S. at the Vancouver airport and you meet the slipperless border guard, would you let him know?