"Do you like my jewellery?" The Lord Mayor of Belfast asks me.
Aye, I do, so I do -- which is unusual because When I Rule the World, Statute No. 27 will be No Male Jewellery Bar Wedding Bands.
But the Lord Mayor's jewellery is ceremonial -- a humongous necklace that I saw him temporarily lend to a pre-teen girl in the lobby of the Waterfront Hall. He's here at the Waterfront again tonight, part of his duties to support the cultural life of our fair city. That big old bling makes him easy to spot in a crowd.
I pointed him out to my friend SJT and commented on the nice gesture with the young girl. They were taking a photo together. I confessed I wanted to tell him how much I love Belfast.
I used to be fearless about this kind of thing. But now I reconsider approaching people. Then again, I think how glad I was to thank the former Nashville for mayor for making it such a great place to live.
And I want a photo of that necklace.
Go on, I'll go with you, said SJT. She double-dog-dared me into it. So off we go to meet the The Lord Mayor.
"Do you like my jewellry?" he asks. Guess what the main feature of the necklace is? That's right -- the city seal, complete with seahorses!
He asks us where we were from [we said we live here, but we knew what he meant] and what brought us here. We tell him.
"We love Belfast," we gush. "We really do."
He seems pleased with this, comments on the uniqueness of this place, and says sometimes people don't understand the local humour.
"At times we can be bitter and twisted," he says.
"That's what we love about it," we say.
I can't bring myself to ask about a photo. We thank him for his time and return to our seats. We tell SJT's husband, who rolls his eyes, obviously relieved that he was nowhere about for this shameless display.
But I'm glad we went and talked to him. I do love Belfast, even if I know The Lord Mayor is a figurehead. I love a place where The Lord Mayor is a historian -- and an ex-prisoner and former rabblerouser. I'm from Illinois, after all.
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