Digging it

Imagine shouting DIGGER with as much enthusiasm as those boys. I felt like joining in, hanging by the window taking in the approaching city and the roadwork that as drivers, we may loathe as it drags on.

Earlier on that same trip, before the family took their cue to enter, I spotted an elderly lady dressed for a special night out with a girlfriend I imagined. The clothing, the jewellery, the handbag, it was all colourful and purposeful, the makeup all set. A big label from her top was sticking out, taking centre stage up her neck, and I ummed and ahhed with myself on whether to get up and take the two steps to her row to let her know. Would it matter? Well, considering the effort she had put in, I thought it might matter to her.

Luckily, I was travelling on my own, because this is one of the many classic examples where my family see what I see, sense what I’m about to do – and politely ask me not to. Don’t get involved, don’t start talking to those strangers, let’s just leave things as they are.

With nothing holding me back, up I went and politely mentioned the stray label and if she wanted me to tug it in. She was happy and we had a good giggle, and I sat back down. No one was hurt, and no grand, award-winning deed was accomplished, but it just felt right. And a connection was made in that public space, where most of us usually hide behind a smartphone.

Back to the boys.

I was on this bus towards the city when a young family with two boys entered. They were dressed for the occasion, too. Matching Christmas shirts, clearly on the way to see Santa. We all soon learned that this was also the youngest boy’s first-ever trip on a bus! How exciting.

What became the highlight of the trip (for all of us, really!) were all the diggers the boys spotted. There has been road work going on for years in this passage, which meant an impressive army of excavators, trucks and any equipment you can possibly imagine. Every few seconds another digger was saluted with an excited DIGGER outburst from the boys.

This did remind me of our oldest daughter, one of her first words was gravko (digger in Danish), as a close contestant to mor and far (mum and dad). During that time, our front yard was getting excavated. Funny what grabs our attention, isn’t it?

The boys definitely had a ball, and the rest of the bus had a good laugh or at least a sparkle in the eye.

I did send my best wishes at that moment to Santa. He would have his work cut out that afternoon to impress those boys. They already had had the best time.
Sometimes we get excited unexpectedly. Sometimes the joy or solution comes from a different angle than expected. Sometimes we get more than we expect. Merry Christmas.