04:10 - 06.10.07
Communication
There's a greater bite in the morning air now and it is still dark at the time I arrive at my son's home. Less people on the bus today than usual, but I had to wait until about a third of that first journey was done before I got a seat. The new to me bus driver is a pleasant sort and he seems to have a large group of friends who travel that first run of the day with him. He has been trying to entice a lot of them to sign up as drivers too, since the city is so short of all the categories of staff that make transit run. Today he was describing what happens when lost items aren't claimed after a certain time. The driver of that bus or train can then claim anything that is left behind. I guess that would be good if one enjoyed running yard sales. On the train, I was the clumsy one today. Trying to slide out of a two bench arrangement the train lurched just as I was passing the woman opposite in the aisle seat. She just grinned, while the woman next to me patiently waited for me to regain some equilibrium before moving on. I think her biggest issue was that she was waiting before reimmersing herself in a novel that obviously fascinated her. Even a few minutes can seem like hours at a page turner part of a story. Been there myself. On the final bus, a woman sat across the aisle from me beaming as she did so. It seemed as though she recognized me. I wondered too where we might have met before, but nothing came. It would have been cool to have someone to chat with who had a common background, but neither of us was gutsy enough to make that ice breaker comment, although it seemed both of us were trying to come up with one. Maybe another day.
Today was pretty routine with respect to my grand-daughter. She had kept her parents up late the night before and was pretty grumpy about being wakened at her regular time. If the current arrangement was planned to be ongoing, the regularity of her schedule wouldn't be such an issue. However, she starts daycare again in another week so it wouldn't be a kindness to let her get out of synch with that routine either. She also very much wanted her share of the goodies her parents were carrying off for lunches. You see it was wrapped in shiny new aluminium foil. The contents were irrelevant to her, but she wanted the glitz. I had brought some day old lasagna wrapped in foil so that settled that problem in a hurry. Yum. Pasta for breakfast beats pablum any day, right? One of the issues that is raising its head now is what language she is trying to communicate in with us. Like my sons when they were little, because the children's programming offers segments in other languages she shifts between different dialects even in a single sentence. Add in that her mother's first language is mixed into that and a type of daycarese that none of us understand and she must think we are all a bit slow when responding to her.
It also sometimes creates misunderstandings. When I was taking physiotherapy one of my professors, who had come to Canada from Scotland as an adult, was describing an incident that happened in one of her first assignments here. The reason for the discourse was the importance of being absolutely certain that the patient understands what one is trying to communicate before beginning treatment. She had been sent to one of the first nations reserves to care for the community there. She said one morning she had two young boys to look after. They were being very obstreporous. She said she told them that if they didn't settle down she was going to have to ask their parents to skelp(spank)them. I started to laugh because I had heard such admonishments from my Scots born grandmother. The rest of the class was just looking puzzled. Switching from her Scottish brogue to a more Canadian accent she shifted that word slightly to scalp and the rest of the class got it too. She said those two boys turned pale and settled down right away thinking she meant definition number two of the threat. That story came to mind the other morning when we were playing "name that body part". My grand-daughter was pointing to my eyes - inserting her finger into one socket as she emphasized the word. I yelped because it hurt - yi-yi-yi - then realized, when her face fell and she began to cry, that that is the word in her Mom's first language for naughty; usually bringing on punishment. Apparently my pronounciation left her in no doubt that she was being reprimanded for something that usually brought praise. "Shoulder?" "That's right sweetie, very good!" Went home that night and signed up for some of the BBC language courses offered on-line. They're free and one receives a certificate at the end of the session indicating one's level of competence. In all honesty I just wanted to update the two European languages that I already have some competence in, as well as learn another Eurpoean language - Spanish - that is becoming a very commonly heard sound on transit and in public places these days. Never hurts to know what is being discussed around you or what alternative meanings might be asribed to what one tries to say oneself.
Anyway time for bed, I have a lot of work to do in my home tomorrow. Good night dear diary. Dreamed of barns and pastoral scenes in Pennsylvania last night - maybe that is the trigger for the domestic diva fit.
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