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06/29/2005: Well, this is why we're considered a bit weird....
I have a confession to make.
I've indulged in some internet dating. In fact, I've had two long term relationships (a year's duration or more, each) which started on the 'net.
Now, admit that, and some people look at you like you have your privy member growing out of your forehead or something.
Then again, after reading a story like this, one is tempted to look in the mirror and examine one's forehead very carefully: Frostbitten lover deported to U.S.
An American who lost several fingers and toes after sneaking across the border in the dead of winter to visit an internet flame has been deported to the U.S., having never met his Quebec sweetheart in person.An LA resident. That explains a lot right there... Like how someone would be enough of an idiot to try to cross the Canadian border on foot in the dead of freaking winter.
An official with the Canada Border Services Agency confirmed Tuesday that Charles Gonsoulin was deported to the U.S. on June 16, the Canadian Press reported.
...
The 41-year-old Los Angeles man had asked to be allowed to stay in Canada on humanitarian grounds so he could meet his internet companion. But the plea was rejected at an immigration hearing June 13.
Gonsoulin had developed an online relationship with Quebec resident Jennifer Couture, but wasn't able to enter Canada legally to meet her because of a past robbery conviction.For a second there, I thought that this guy was a gun nut, til I followed the handily provided link to the story about his sentencing; turns out that the weapon was pepper spray, which he was carrying to ward off any animals that he might have encountered along the way.
He decided to walk across the North Dakota-Manitoba border and make his way to Winnipeg, where he intended to board a bus to meet her.
Gonsoulin was picked up on Feb. 23 on a golf course in southern Manitoba after spending about 100 hours in the cold. He was dehydrated, babbling and severely frostbitten.
He had eight fingers and parts of three toes amputated, and had to relearn how to use his hands and walk.
In March, he pleaded guilty in a Manitoba court to illegally entering Canada and carrying a prohibited weapon. He was given a suspended sentence.
Hmmmm. Some evidence of prior planning and rational thought there. There might be some hope, after all.
Len on 06.29.05 @ 07:53 AM CST
