Strange Maman

Beware: This is a long post!
I will be returning to work tomorrow. Cameron went over to his parents to help them with their computer, so I took the opportunity to go down to the new Spotlight store in South Melbourne. It is better to go without Cameron tagging along because I need to have a good look at the range of fabrics they have.

I was a bit lazy because I stayed up till around 5:00 am and so I decided to take the tram there. This meant that I had to take two trams when I could have quite easily walked. Believe me; I truly regretted not walking after the weird experience that happened at the tram stop.

When I was approaching the tram stop that is virtually outside my building, a mum and her girls were crossing the road heading to the same tram stop as well. Being a kid magnet that seems to attract children’s attention all the time, I chose not to wait for the tram at the stop and proceeded to the stop’s shelter on the other side of the road. This move didn’t stop the girls from greeting me. I sat at the shelter deliberately looking at the city’s skyscrapers to avoid eye contact with the little girls. The older child would be 3 or 4 while the younger child is about Bree’s age. The younger one kept saying hello to me from her stroller. The older one joined in and asked for my name and whereabouts I was going. I just smiled, waved and refused to engage any further. (I am not heartless or unfriendly. I have my reasons as to why I do not respond to children I do not know. I am well aware that I am not practising what I preach.) Because they were talking quite loud, I could hear that mum was talking to them in French and they responded in either French or English. That is not a problem to me. I am all for bilingualism or multilingualism. Some people get very offended by the sounds of people (including strangers) speaking in a different language.

(Get back on track, This Melbourne Nanny!)

Just when I thought the tram was never going to turn up, I heard its screeching wheels rumbling down the bendy part of Southbank Boulevard. I then walked over to the stop to wait for it. By then the younger child was no longer sitting in her stroller and was standing on the tracks. The stroller too was on the tracks. Mum and older child stood behind the white line and all were watching the approaching tram that had just turned into our street. I wanted to say something to warn the mum. She turned to look at the shelter (where I was) and then turned around and saw me at the stop. She had this unfriendly facial expression like she didn’t like me being there. I pointed at the tram and told her that the tram was coming. She turned towards the tram again. The older child was waving at the tram and the younger child was still on the tracks. The tram started to slow down and the driver could be seen waving at the young family to get out of the way. He was also sounding the horn/bell. Instead of moving her little tot and the stroller from the tracks, she turned to give me a nasty look! The tram was less than 10 metres away and I gestured frantically as I asked her to move the child. She picked up the kid and shook her head in disgust like I was causing her a lot of inconvenience. The tram came to a stop at the end of the stop. It was quite a funny sight when she beckoned the driver to come forward while the frustrated driver was gesturing her to remove the stroller from the tracks. The children were entertained, laughing away at what was happening. I said, “The stroller is…” and she put one hand up to block me like she wasn’t interested with what I had to say. Eventually, the driver had to use the loud speakers to tell her to move the stroller. She did that shaking her head again and the tram moved forward slowly. The front doors opened and it looked like I had to go in through the same entrance as them because I couldn’t get to the other doors. Despite being rude to me, I offered to help her. Being a nanny, I am well aware of the difficulties of taking two small children plus a stroller onto a tram. She yelled at the tram driver, asking, “Why did you stop so far away?” and then turned to block me by raising her hand right in front of my face. It was like, talk to the hand because the face is not responding to your offer to help. I gave up and ran up the road (which was free of traffic) to the end of the stop to hop on the tram via the back doors. The driver was clearly offended by being yelled at that he didn’t come out of his cockpit to help them. She was left struggling on her own and no one else came to her rescue either.
I took a seat near the middle door. An old lady kindly left her seat to take up another seat nearby to allow the family the seats closes to the front door. She didn’t thank the lady either. The younger child started to interact with the old lady. Instead of holding on to her for safety, she allowed the tot to stand up holding onto a pole. In my opinion, the pole is too thick for the child to hold on to securely and I would never let my charges stand around like this on a moving tram. Just as predicted, the child fell over as soon as the tram started to move. Imagine if she was the nanny!

I was only on the tram for a few stops before changing over to another tram for another few more stops. During the whole time that I had to share my tram ride with this interesting woman and her girls, she made me feel horrible. She kept turning around to check her fellow passengers on the tram paying particular attention at me and another guy who was sitting right behind her. Her searing stares made me feel very uncomfortable. I was travelling light and didn’t have a book or even my diary in my bag to keep me occupied. I tried to look out of the windows but every time she turned around to stare at me, I became self conscious wondering what I did wrong. The guy she was also staring at got off one stop before me. When I stood up to pull the cord for the next stop, she virtually jumped out of her seat for some reasons. I decided not to get out via the front doors to give her some peace. Besides, the middle doors were closer to me anyway. I was getting stared at even as I was getting off the tram.

She was probably relieved that I was gone but I think that I am more relieved that she wasn’t heading to Spotlight too. I wonder what her problem was. She looked healthy. The kids looked clean and healthy too. I hope I won’t be bumping into them again. The rest of my trip was fun. I bought some material that I may use someday. I think I am like a lot of sewers. We just can’t help spending money on nice fabrics and the nice collection just keeps piling up over time. LOL.