This week I’m “liveblogging” my trip to Ukraine. Unlike traditional reports, these posts will be shorter and more frequent.
The legroom may be poor and the temperature like a sauna, but a little girl has taken a liking to me on the long bus ride from Kyiv to Warsaw. It’s helping to pass the time…
My Three-Year-Old Seatmate Won’t Leave Me Alone.
With just a few exceptions (including myself), the bus from Kyiv to Warsaw is full of women and children, along with a smattering of older men. After all, Ukrainian men of fighting age are not permitted to leave the country, but other Ukranians are allowed to enter Poland simply with their passports (no visa necessary).
There’s a three-year-old girl sitting in front of me who reminds me of my daughter Claire Maire. She has a precious laugh and has spent over an hour teasing me with her purple unicorn. She also frequently pops up above her seat or through the curtain as if playing a game of hide and seek.
She’s tried to speak to me…she has quite a vocabulary…but sadly I cannot understand Ukranian. Her mother has looked on with wry amusement, probably happy for the brief respite from keeping her daughter calm.
There’s nothing profound about this, but it is a reminder that many families are currently separated right now in Ukraine and a good reminder for me to treasure my time with my family. I can’t wait to give my little daughter a huge hug and kiss.
And can I say that, sadly, I hesitated even writing this. Last week I wrote about a man who accused of being a pervert for offering his seat to an unaccompanied minor on an American Airlines flight. In this day and age, it seems like any interaction wtih children is viewed as inherently suspect. That’s a sad indictment of our moral failings on an individual and societal level.
But on this bus, I am happy for this distraction as we approach the Ukrainian border to Poland.
Matthew.
One agaon a banal story from you.
Im taking you off my twitter feed until you write real stories tgat benefit our highly intelligent travel community.
Bye Felicia!
LOL
i know what you mean regarding the “weird suspect” thing regarding interacting with any young person. i hope you enjoyed your time in ukraine! looking forward to your post-trip insights.
This story is getting boring.
I agree! I want to hear more about the alpha males from the hotel! Did they have big muscles?
Getting boring.. then don’t read it.
You know there is one thing I appreciate about Matthew: He has the constitution to take the criticism in stride. I myself snipe at him often, calling him a beta male, soy boy, weakling, etc etc, and yet I don’t get banned or censored.
He is not at all like his colleague, creepy homosexual Ben Schlappig, who can’t take a joke or criticism without running to the censorship button. Part of the fun of these blogs is the back and forth with the author.
I understand your concerns. I was at a Rotary youth exchange conference in Monterey, Mexico at the very, very beginning of the pandemic, and I went to see a national forest with my wife and another participant from Germany. When we got lost in a rental car, we stopped and asked for directions at a local home of indigenous peoples. The mother sent her 10 year old son who spoke no English with us in our car to give us directions. I commented that I would never allow my kids to do that, and my German friend said that he wasn’t going to hurt the child and my wife and I weren’t going to hurt the child either, so why was I worried. I guess in each culture that they look at those interactions differently. It’s just our thoughts about how people might judge us, and I sort of quit worrying about it.
I think in the US people are hyper sensitive about it… not sure why but other countries not so much.
I generally do not like the blame the media for things, but with this issue, I do think it’s warranted. The 24 hour news cycle and nationalization of sensational local stories creates an environment where people think the risk to children has increased. I don’t think it has. Rather, our awareness of the issue has increased (a good thing), but along with that, so has our irrational fear.
Have fun interacting with the little girl. Snowflakes live under a rock so let them scream about you interacting with her. At the end of the day, we know there is no harm in what you described, her mother is next to her and has full control of the situation. I really feel bad about her generation as she will grow up with people saying these little nice things about life are wrong.
At least you didn’t let her sit on you glad you survived kiddo!