All right, I dont know everything!
I just got back from a trip to D.C. and have a question for the grizzled Masons who read my blog. During a stop on the New Jersey Turnpike while I was getting out of the car I noticed the man who just got out of the car next to me was wearing a Square and Compasses on a necklace. He in turn must of noticed the Masonic ladies slipper emblem on my wife's car and immediately came up to me and said;
"I see you're a Traveling Man"
To which I responded quite lamely;
"Yeah, I'm a brother"
After exchanging a smile and a handshake he mentioned he was from the local Prince Hall Lodge and I told him where I was from and we departed on the square.
Is there a proper response to that statement?
Should a token be given?
If so, which one?
There is some stuff we never teach in our degrees and this is definately one instance where I was at a loss for words believe it or not!
Tuesday, February 5, 2008
Traveling Man
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3 comments:
It seems that in my short time as a Prince Hall Mason (I was raised 6/7/07) I've come across several strange questions, when fellow brothers notice my baseball cap with a square & compass. Most of the time I would offer them a token or perhaps if were in a high traffic area just throw an allusion and we'd grin at each other and part. Then a friend of mine suggested I pick up a book entitled Masonic Catch-E-Kism, this little booklet contains 100's of question in relation to the first 3 degrees of masonry. Now, I don't think anybody expects a person to remember all of this but it's an interesting resource to have. I know that amongst my friends from college and earlier that are now brothers we enjoy quizzing each other and we try to find questions to stump each other.
Is there a proper response to that statement?
Yes. It's "Hi, I'm MMM from XXX Lodge in Connecticut. Pleased to meet you."
Sheesh, you kids think it's all about passwords and decoder rings, don't you?
Yep, my experience is, someone says are you a mason too? I say 'yes, I'm from Gooch Lodge, meets at Twickenham'.
If there's physical proximity, handshake - normally EA token, not knowing what degree the other brother is, and maybe chat about meetings, when initiated.
It's almost like you have somehting in common!!
Ben
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