Yesterday was glorious sun after days of cold rain.
In one hour I had two very different clients in push chairs. The first client is a regular and kinda scary. S comes to the zoo once a week with his carer. He hates going home from the zoo and so his trip home is always one long tantrum. I’ve seen this before with 3 year olds but though S has the mind of a 3 year old he’s actually a large 40 year old man. He’s strapped into the chair because he can’t walk and I must say I’m guiltily glad of it. He swears and tries to push his carer and bangs the bins and walls. But like a toddler, he can be very sweet too. After he told me to “fuck off” one time I turned away crossly and said I wasn’t going to be talked to like that. He said he was sorry and looked so woebegone that I forgave him. I asked the carer why he hates going home and learned that he lives in a share house. He has no family. His trip to the zoo is probably the only interesting thing that happens all week. So now I do my best to talk to him and say nice to see you. He seems glad of the attention and the carer is glad for him to be distracted. After they get on the train the swearing usually starts again.
The second client was a real 3 year old strapped in her pram. Out on the platform in the sun, she set off her new bubble machine. For about 5 minutes I was surrounded by cloud of golden and rainbow-hued soap bubbles. I could barely refrain from dancing round in them.