I would like you to meet my Butcher

Regina is full of interesting people and places. So far I have shown you where rabbits tread and where I get my hair cut. I have taken you up north where the women shinny in the winter, as compared to strippers who shimmy all year round.

So now I think it is time for you to meet my butcher. Well, she isn't exactly my very own butcher. Now that sounds pretty possessive like I am from the United States, or something. Which I am, but I am really trying to change, really. Tracy is her name and cutting and chopping is her game. Somewhat like my hair stylist, but she uses a cleaver instead of scissors. Which is not to say that Tara chops at my hair, or that I find hair in meat I buy from Tracy, just saying that they both have a "T" in their name and that I know them and that is saying a lot that I know two people. To be truthful, I know more then two people. So when someone says my name on the street I don't scream quite as often and cry out "I'm one of the nice people from the US". That is embarrassing, since I am finding out that to scream or cry out in Regina is frowned upon unless it is during a curling game and you have a broom and you are "hurrying hard". If you have been watching the curling competition during the Olympics you would know what I am talking about. Though, when the Finnish yell "hurry hard" it doesn't sound anything like the team from Newfoundland when they yell it out. Sounds more like "hoppuilla kovasydäminen!"

Back to the neighborhood butcher, Tracy. Funny, in the northwest when we say neighborhood butcher we usually mean a serial killer. Funny huh? OK, not funny ha ha, more like funny weird, or funny if you are sick in the head funny. But Tracy is truly a cool person. Do you know what her favorite band is? Yes. Not yes, I know what it is, though I do know who it is, it is "YES" and for those of you who are young and shouldn't be reading this blog anyway they are a band from the 80's. Now it is important to know who her favorite band is and to never say anything bad about this band otherwise they have "special cuts" of meat wink, wink, nudge, nudge, if you know what I mean. You know meat that neighs if it were alive kind of meat.

So Tracy's family owns the Butcher Boys Meat Shop and it is in the Cathedral Area of Regina, which is the very hip place where people like Kim (I won't say her last name to protect her innocence), who is my friend, lives. Well, she is really Barb's friend more then mine, but I am pretending she is my friend even though she runs a lot when it is really cold out and is cute and thin. I have decided she can still be my friend. Yep, I know, I am a pretty cool person.

So, but here is the heads up. Tracy is at war with Safeway across the street. Not like she is going to bomb the meat department or anything like that, but here is the gossip. See, her place is right across the street and sometimes people, now this might freak you out, will actually park in the Safeway parking lot - and get this - walk across the street and buy meat from her shop. I know, crazy, huh? So Safeway knows this and this is where it gets really gross. They have a guy standing outside all day and watching the parking lot to see that only Safeway shoppers use it. Now since he is Canadian, he doesn't do anything about it, but everyone can see him and his beady eyes looking perturbed at them. Pretty nasty stuff eh?

He looks just like this except he is wearing a toque and his lips are a bit redder.

So Tracy knows this and is writing to Safeway using those "How Are We Doing" customer satisfaction cards to let them know just what she thinks of their "enforcer".

I will keep you up to date as this all plays out, but man if I were you I would stay the hell away from that Safeway parking lot on 13th Avenue if I were you, cause it could be a nasty war of comment cards.