Camping it up

Today was Camp Day at Tim Hortons.

For those of you who are reading this anywhere other than in the UK, that statement will have seemed perfectly regular and normal. However, I would wager that our British readership is now having a quiet titter to itself or is possibly rolling around on the floor, depending on disposition and available floorspace.

Let me explain.

Camp Day is actually a day when Tim Hortons donates all its takings from every coffee sold that day to a fund whose aim is to send needy kids to summer camp. It's a very worthy cause, and last year over $9 million was raised; you can read more about it by clicking here.

However, in Britain, the word 'camp' can have an entirely different connotation. Granted, its primary meaning is related to tents, but the word is also widely used to describe someone who behaves in a very exaggerated, theatrical, gay manner. So you can imagine my reaction when, some three or four years ago, I first became aware of Tim Hortons' Camp Day. I was expecting all their staff to be acting in the manner of Frankie Howerd or Larry Grayson, and exclaiming 'I'm free!' when they were available to serve. I was all prepared for a day of hysterical tomfoolery, only to be brought back down to earth when I learnt what was really going on.

You see, here in Canada, this alternative meaning of the word camp doesn't seem to exist, so much so that there is also an organization called Camp Kids. I remember when we first visited Canada, some six years ago, seeing a line of children in bright yellow T-shirts emblazoned with the Camp Kids logo being led down the main street in Kingston; Melanie and I struggled to keep our composure as we tried to spot which of the children was mincing the best, and the people around us are probably still wondering to this day just what on earth we found so funny.

Anyway, they say little things please little minds, and my little mind always enjoys this time of year at Tim Hortons. Oh, and as coincidence (not irony, Alanis) would have it, I'm going camping with my old school tomorrow - tent camping, not the other type - and assuming we don't get eaten by bears, I shall give you the full lowdown on the trip at the weekend.

Now, what do I need to take with me? It's only for one night, but I simply haven't got a thing to wear...