Monday, October 17, 2011

Maman kangarou, endorsed by strangers at brunch


Lowell and I were out for brunch the other day at the little diner across the street from our apartment. The place is run by a greek family, the food is hit or miss and the service is almost always bumbling... but there is a certain charm to it. The prices are good and the food is prepared by a bunch of grumpy looking old guys in paper hats and stained white aprons so there's a certain nostalgic feel.

Anyway, at the table next to ours there was a hip looking couple finishing up their meal. I noticed that the man had a teeny baby strapped to him using the Maman Kangarou cloth carriers that I had registered for after my nerdy Internet research. So after a little while, I said to them "I'm sorry to interrupt your meal, but I was wondering how you like that carrier? " Normally I'm always hesistant to talk to strangers as we live very much in a culture where striking up conversations with people you don't know is often not well received. I know I've been on the receiving end of it and more often than not, I wind up being annoyed. I knew if I didn't ask though, I'd regret it.

As it turns out though, lately when it comes to baby stuff, people are always more than happy to take a few minutes to chat. It's been an unexpectedly pleasant part of the whole experience. I can recall countless brunches in similar settings where you're sitting literally half a foot away from a stranger, trying to ignore each other. It's like there's an immediate sense of camaraderie or something once they see your belly. They told me about the different types of carriers they had tried and gave the kangarou two thumbs up. I marvelled at how calm and well-behaved their little 2-month old was. Then we resumed eating side by side and ignoring each other. As they were leaving, we smiled good-bye and Mom came back to our table and says to me "The Epidural is your friend!!" before running off again.

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