Newcomer indulges in some monkey business

By Simone D’Souza

Image credit: Kunal Goswami on Unsplash

Soon after moving to Canada, many, many years ago, I signed up as a volunteer on the parents’ committee that was helping organize a fundraiser at our children’s school.

I was given the task of collecting and checking recipes submitted by the children for a book that we were going to print and sell as part of the fundraiser.

As we were very new in Canada, money was tight and we were yet to purchase our first computer. Smartphones were yet to be invented. Also, desktops were a lot more expensive than they are today (and came with unbelievably low memory).

When I told the others on the committee that I should perhaps be given something else to do as I didn’t have a computer, another parent very sweetly offered to help.

Everyone could e-mail her the recipes and she would print them out for me. I could check them, and go over one afternoon to her place to make corrections, if any.

It seemed like a good idea, but as the submissions snowballed, Katrina was obviously getting overwhelmed.

One parent had e-mailed her asking if the recipe they sent was okay and then e-mailed again a day or two later, asking why she hadn’t heard back – parents take their kids’ submissions very personally!

Katrina told me that she had responded saying the recipes were with me, that the parent would hear back once I had gone through this lot, and that she was just the monkey-in-the-middle.

I was captivated with the expression. And the choice of the animal.

“Why are you a monkey?” I asked Katrina. “I’d would have thought you’d pick a more Canadian animal, a squirrel, perhaps, or even a beaver.”

“Huh?” she responded. “A beaver?”

Monkey in the middle is an old outdoor game and the expression refers to a person who is caught between two people, she explained.

“Just an expression,” she said, laughing. “No monkey business!”

What’s your story? Every newcomer, no matter how savvy or where he or she comes from, has a story to share about their early days in Canada. Do you want to share your story? E-mail it to us at canadaboundimmigrant@rogers.com.