As a writer, one of my favourite pass times is "people
watching". So during the recent school hoildays, I took myself off to the local
Mall, notebook in hand, and found a vacant bench on the ground floor, fairly
near the lifts and escalators. What I saw was indeed a complete eye-opener! From
babies in prams, completely covered by blankets, so that no one could see
that baby and the baby could not look out; to mothers hurrying along, with
children trailing behind, often in a crowd. I saw crying children; rude and
cross children, whining and begging children and very few who looked as though
they were actually enjoying themselves or the outing. Often the teenagers had
sort of disowned their parents, which is probably to be expected! The whole
scene reminded me of a project I did with my class years
ago.
Of course, during the 25 years of my teaching
experience, shopping, as such and shopping projects changed with the times and
no longer did we set up quaint little grocery stores in a corner of the
classroom. Instead, we had real cake or cookie sales; or used real stationery,
pencils, erasers, etc, or hand made crafts, or even the children's own paintings
to be sold, to teach the concept of buying and selling and the value of
coins.
One day, during a class discussion, a child
said, "Mrs Kahn, do you know that I HATE going shopping? It is NOT a
treat."
When I asked her to explain in more detail, she
said this, and I have never forgotten it.
"Just think of us for a moment. We are shorter than
adults, sometimes much smaller. We get bashed by other people's parcels and
handbags and all we can see are
legs!"
Rosemary - July
2011.
