Newcomer learns to keep a secret
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By Meenakshi Rawat
Back where I come from, it’s perfectly okay to ask someone personal questions like their age or how much they make a month, the size of their home and how much they paid for it, or even when they are going to finally have a baby.
Well, maybe, it’s not perfectly okay, but it’s certainly common and something people are used to. They may grumble privately about being asked such intrusive questions but then they will not think twice before subjecting someone else to the same interrogation.
I have found myself being put on the spot by questions I’d rather not be asked, and the only way I knew how to deal with them was to mumble a response which was much longer than it needed to be.
I learnt how Canadians cope with such situations in our early days in Canada.
One day, I answered a knock on the door to find a courier standing there with a large bouquet of flowers. They were for our neighbour who was away and he said he had instructions from her son to leave them with us should she not be home when they were delivered. He’d a left a note on her door to say the flowers were with us, he added.
I brought them inside and a short while later, answered another knock on the door to find our sweet neighbour standing there with a large smile of anticipation lighting up her face.
“James always sends me the most beautiful flowers!” she exclaimed, picking up the bouquet.
She didn’t say they were for her birthday, but I had seen the birthday card tucked into the vase.
I gave her a hug, and wished her a very happy birthday.
“How old are you today?” I asked.
She looked a little surprised at the question. Then smiled and said, “Can you keep a secret?”
“Of course!” I assured her promptly.
“Well, dear, so can I!” she responded with an impish grin.
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.