The following is a true story ...

So there I was, strolling into the local grocery store to pick up a few things, cash my paycheck and catch up on a bill or two. Just your typical Friday afternoon, the sun shining and not a care in the world (except for dishing out hefty amounts of cash paying said bills, of course). I believe it was late spring, possibly April or May, and I was completely unprepared for the conversation I was about to overhear.

Life, as they say, is full of surprises.

After a quick perusal of Chenango County’s Hometown Daily – a brief scan of the front page – I made my way to the service desk, noting the strange man standing at the counter; animated, talking with his hands and with an impressively filthy duffel bag lying at his feet. On the counter, a stack of papers, slightly crumpled and also none too clean. The first portion of this obviously heated conversation I heard?

“I’ll swear to you right now on a stack of bibles that this is all true. I did the research myself.”