“What I’m asking you,” I calmly and slowly continued, “is: Am I on a list?”
By this time I had an ever so slight smile on my face because I was getting the sense that the Chief had some sympathy with where I was coming from and wanted to help me as far as he could – and perhaps even to let me know just how far that was.
He responded with a smile of his own and an answer that I shall never forget: