waiting for the bus

has anybody ever couchsurfed? I recommended it to chantal this weekend as she's in scandinavia, and couldn't find accommodataion at all. hope that works out well!

tonight while waiting for the bus I was reminded again why I miss downtown toronto so much - no little kids running around bothering you. in downtown toronto, kids hang out with their friends in carefully guarded playgrounds and daycares or on skillfully monitored playdates. however, in east wall, they run rampant like little gangesters trying to get money or candy from every person they encounter. tonight, in the time it took me to wait for a bus, I had an incredibly useless conversation with a kid who looked about six and was running around the streets with his mates. first, he wanted to know if I would give him any candy or chewing gum. then, he wanted to know if I had a boyfriend. then, he asked me about my house, where I was going, what I was doing, where I was doing it, whether or not my (imaginary) boyfriend was going to be there, why I was wearing what I was wearing, whether or not I thought I was cool, and whether or not I would give him a kiss. I know what you're thinking - aw, how cute! but seriously. this was not cute. this was lame. his little friends were having their own conversation constructed entirely of all the dirty words they could think of. as it was nearing half seven in the evening, I wondered to myself where on earth these kids' parents were. this continued on for about twenty more minutes, as the bus was late (as usual) and these kids obviously had nothing better to do. a group of older girls passed by and told me that I should give one of them a smack but hello, do I want to get sued? my luck, the little pests parents would show up just in time to watch me kick their beloved spawn to the curb. anyway after ages of dodging grabs at my purse, telling them to go home, and basically having three six-year-olds surgically attached to my hip, a random woman appeared and snatched one of them up, gave him a spanking so loud I'm convinced I can still hear the echo, and ran two of them into a house screaming about not talking to strangers. the first little dude, shawn with plue paint on his nose, hung about until the bus arrived. in the end, I couldn't help but feel sorry for the bunch. if I were a six year old with a screamy spanky mum in a dirty east wall house, I would spend my time outside talking to strangers at the bus stop too.