Night Out in Town

We took Gabe out on a trip to town one evening to get a new set of phones for the home since both the existing sets have been giving us problems for quite some time. His last trip was in December, when the Christmas lights were all up. In a short span of two months, much has changed and boy, was the evening dotted with events as we navigated a small section of Orchard.

The plan was to meet up with derod after he knocked off from work, which meant that I had to come head on with the mad rush hour with a train ride into town. I wheeled Gabe into a very crowded train, with just enough space for the front wheels of his pram not to roll over an executive's shoes, and for the doors to close safely behind my back. Gabe looked up and for a moment, one can almost see the slow left-right motion of the camera capturing the scene: he was surrounded by executives standing around him in a semi-circle fashion, all looking down at him while he felt like a little grasshopper, and may I add, none smiling nor looking really friendly. He turned around to look at me and his face started to crack. Then it happened. For all of you who know my son, his vocal capabilities and that small space don't make a very good ride for every other human being within 1 km radius. So I had to reassure him that I was near, and pat his chest for physical comfort, twice, before he decided the situation probably wasn't all that bad. All this in the full sight of those unwavering stone faces of men in shirt and ties.

Dinner consisted of peppery beef on a hot plate with loads of sauces that tasted real good but of questionable origins. That was for us. Kiddo was served his home-cooked porridge. You can imagine the protest. And the volume of that protest. He tried unsuccessfully to get us to feed him what was on our plate; yelling, pulling derod's arm again and again. He finally gave up and turned his attention to the next table. Yes. He saw how the lady emptied her ingredients into the hot plate, how they sizzled and he was kicking with excitement. Next, he yelled at her to feed him, adding "maam maam!" to his other jibberish speech. Fortunately for us, she pretended not to notice him at all.

We hit the electrical store and the plasmas and flat screens (that were absolutely everywhere in the store) caught the little one's attention. He saw fish, water and other stuff he could recognise. Then all of a sudden, that expression on his face meant he saw something he absolutely loved, and in a tender but firm voice, he went "dog". I turned in the direction of his gaze and saw that Ice Age was playing. Now, we all know that there are no dogs in Ice Age. Turns out it was the squirrel, or whatever that prehistoric four-legged, tailed creature is.