… is the road to hell, according to one saying. According to my mum, it’s
paved with teachers. I guess that just shows that there may be as many roads to
hell as there are people’s versions of what hell is – but I digress, as what I really wanted to explore is how kids can cause you to detour from your intentions.
Anyone with a connection to this desert place, has their equivalent of the ‘where were you when JFK was shot or Elvis/Marvin Gaye/MJ died’? question – ‘where were you the day of the Villagio tragedy?’ I was in a park in Manchester with a friend and my then only son.
However, the consequences and impact of that fatal fire are still being played out. As my own personal protest, I decided to refrain from shopping there. I did not cast any judgments on those who continued to do so. As a friend stated, who resumed shopping there after it was reopened, it is important to help those who survived continue to earn a living. Honestly, not going to Villagio was not as onerous, as I live nearer to Landmark mall which has similar shops such as M&S and Monsoon.
I had decided not to visit my decision on the rest of my family. So during Easter uhmm Spring Break, when a friend offered to take Kwame ice-skating in Villagio, I readily agreed. Ah the unforeseen consequences of our decisions! Apart from being ‘naturally good’ at it, Kwame declared he wanted to celebrate his birthday by going ice-skating.
There is an entire culture around birthday parties here which is a whole other story or blog. Another story is if you want information about any place here do not wholly depend on what is on the organisation’s website, if there is a one, go there and get the information yourself. That’s why, one afternoon in the early part of May, I found myself going to ‘that mall’ to find out about ice-skating. I was sure that I would just go straight to the rink and not look left or right at any other shop. Oh the boundless expanse of self delusion!
Of course I found myself in Wallis, Next, Bath and Body Works and even M&S as that branch is larger than the one in Landmark. I eventually did get to the ice rink to get the information and on the way back to my car could not resist a Krispy Kreme.
What intentions or values have you bent/broken because of your kids?