This blog is dedicated to 2 lovely ladies, who are at either end of the timeline of life and respresent the 2 demographs I am missing the most- babies and elderly ladies.
So here's to Niamh and Anna (Teresa).
The problem with emigration is that although you can make friends and contacts with your peers and colleagues, you get very little exposure/access to the other age groups that make up the remainder of the human race. I happen to genuinely enjoy chatting with older people over a cup of tea and who doesn't love a cuddle from a chubby, smiling toddler.
Unsurprisingly Torontonian parents rarely appreciate it when I approach them in the supermarket and ask to smell/hug their child. Similarly my boss presumed I was joking when I asked to be introduced to his parents who are both in their nineties. I wasn't!
It is genuinely difficult to meet people outside of the work and pub scene. You seem like a weirdo. If you were to start hanging around playgrounds and parks to try and recruit some underage/oldage friends you would find yourself attracting some pretty serious scrutiny.
But I miss having family friends that don't find it suspicious if you want to spend time with them. Listening to their stories or inversely reading bedtime stories. It struck me as I walked down Yonge Street the other day on my way home from work that I haven't even seen a child in weeks never mind spoken to one. A brand new high rise condo in the heart of Downtown Toronto isn't exactly a popular family settling zone. It's all suits and students, I have seen a total of 2 children in this block since moving in almost 3 months ago.
'Pet Parents' (as they are known here) have less scruples about letting their furry clawed children grow up in the city. But then there are probably more amenities for a poodle than a toddler in this building, there is a state of the art pet spa, complete with hair dryer, jacuzzi and dog shampoo but not a waterslide in sight down at the swimming pool.
I'm sure there are gaggles of desperate parents who would kill for a friendly soul like myself to come and mind their kids while they went out for sushi and a movie and not to mention the huge numbers of older people who at this very moment would be over the moon to share a pot of tea and a few memories with a willing ear. I would be more than happy to oblidge but value my freedom and don't want to be placed under observation by neighbour hood watch for cruising the local community for friends!
The irony is if I want to talk to children and the elderly without a restriction being placed on my passport I would be better off getting paid to do so! An hourly rate to babysit or do some home help suddenly verifies that I am not a creep but just a young person trying to make some extra cash money.
I think we all need to come out of our boxes and start sharing our lives a bit more, but maybe I was just spoiled growing up on a street where you share eggs, bread, wine, teapots, paint, wineglasses, tables and chairs, milk, plasters, hair straighteners, toasted sandwiches, and most importantly laughs!
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