ANNAMIE PALMIST

GREEN PARTY LEADER’S WORST SUMMER JOB? FORTUNE TELLER. IF ONLY SHE REALLY HAD THAT ABILITY.

A page in the Ontario Legislature at the tender age of 12, Green Party leader Annamie Paul has a long history of impressive political gigs on her CV — but, no, I see the future of this article moving in a very different and unforeseen direction. Pull up a chair and suspend your disbelief for our strangest best-worst job memory yet. As told to Rosemary Counter.

Well, here goes, one summer I worked as a fortune teller. I’m not even kidding! I read palms for five dollars each in the horse pavilion at the Canadian National Exhibition.

Maybe let me give you some context first: I come from a hard-working immigrant family where there’s no such thing as a free summer — even for a kid. So, as soon as it was legal for me to work, my mother took me into the local job services centre to register me as available. I must have been about 14, or whatever the legal minimum age to work was at the time. It was probably that day exactly.

The gig would have been posted on the job board — literally pinned to a wall because this was the 80s — or maybe they contacted me about the job. Either way, it was what was available and I was happy to have it. The job description was very serious, definitely not a scam, no clairvoyance required. I was too young to ask questions for data or empirical evidence, and I certainly didn’t judge anyone else for believing, which actually made me a pretty good fit for the job.

First of all they gave me a crash course in palm reading: The life line, heart line, love line. It was presented to me as a skill based in science that anyone could learn. I wasn’t supposed to make anything up, though sometimes I’d play up the good news if I really had to, but just read the palm and tell the client what was there. I’d report on their likelihood of a long life, happiness and relationships.

My job was to sit all day in the booth, not too far from the horses. Thankfully, there was no hokey costume involved and I got to wear my own clothes. Costumes were for performers whereas we were supposed to be authentic. This may have just been a business decision, but it worked: I don’t think I ever had a lineup, but I definitely had a healthy stream of clients coming through all day long. There was never time to put your feet up and read a book, for example. It was a lot busier than you might think.

At the start I assumed that people would be doing this as a gag or a lark, that I’d have to really put on a show, but it wasn’t like that at all. I guess anyone who’d get a palm reading was already a believer or at least really wanted a palm reading because don’t forget this was in the horse pavilion and it did not smell good. To get your fortune, you had to smell the horses so you had to really want it. All I know is not once did anyone question why or how a young teenager was qualified to tell them their future. People were genuinely interested and very nice.

It wasn’t a high-paying job, but it certainly wasn’t any worse than other jobs at the Ex, and physically it was a lot better. I mean, I was basically just sitting there in the shade being paid to talk. Only minimum wage, but there were tips, and sometimes people tipped very well. Sadly, it never occurred to me at the time that I might get a bigger tip if I predicted a better future, so I just faithfully recounted what the palm told me. It’s definitely been a while, but I bet if you showed me your palm right now, I could read it. I think it’s one of those things that would come right back, like riding a bike.