Uhm, This is What I Get for Being an Extrovert.

Some of you have had to listen to me rant about how much I've enjoyed meeting Torontonian Catholics who manage to be traditional without traditionalist or crazy conservative.

Last night, at swing dancing, the other shoe dropped. One young man was sitting on the sidelines, not going home but not dancing. Being me (and being somewhat more outgoing than I usually am, because dancing makes me giddy), I decided to harass him. Because I'm kind like that.

Yrs Truly: What's up? You haven't danced at all!
Gentleman: Well, I'm not feeling very well... my tummy hurts.
Y.T.: Oh, I'm sorry. Uhm, I'm Alice...
Gentleman: (His Name)
Y.T: Right. We met in the lesson, but I forgot your name.
G: Are you a first year?
Y.T: Oh, I'm an MA Student. You? What's your department?
G: I'm starting my first year in mathematics-- I'm an undergraduate.
Y.T: Oh, so did you move in already?
G: No, I'm a commuter student. My parents made it clear I wasn't moving away from home.
Y.T.: So, what do you want to do with that? Do you want to go on for a PhD, or do you want to teach?
G: Oh, I think I'm just going to work after getting my degree...

(Note that his lack of interest in a doctorate was where I realized that there was no way this conversation was going anywhere good.)

Y.T: blah blah blah my friends doing math PhDs blah blah blah... Do you have a distribution requrement?
G: Yes, so I'm taking Engineering, and Catholicism...
Y.T: There's a class called 'Catholicism"?!
G: In St. Michael's College.
Y.T: I have to get myself a TAship in that course. I do religious history, you see...
G: Yes, I've done my own reading on my religion in that regard. I'm a creationist, so I've done a great deal of reading on my religion.
Y.T: ... how do you define your religion?
G: I'm a conservative Catholic.
Y.T: Ah, I see. Well, I'll be seeing you around. I'd be a terrible TA in that class, though, I'd stand in the corner and tell Jesuit jokes. (Flounces off to dance some more.)

Yeah, so, I'd met one really traditionalist Catholic who refused to believe in the Doppler effect because, you know, red-shift is one of the bits of evidence for the Big Bang, but I'd never met a Catholic who willingly called himself a Creationist before.