"I like the winter, a lot," he said.
We were both on an elevator heading down to the mall below. I was taking my hat and scarf off, in preparation for meeting Joe who would put them, and my coat, in the bag behind my chair. He had taken his scarf off and lowered the hood on his parka leaving another, from his hoodie, up.
"You like the cold then," I said, figuring that my deduction was obvious.
"No, I hate the cold." He was definate.
"Do you like winter sports then?" I'm now really curious.
"No, I hate hockey." Again. Definate.
"Why do you like winter so much if you don't like the cold and you don't like winter sports?"
"Because I get to wear my parka hood up, when I go out."
"Pardon?"
"In the summer people can see I have Down Syndrome and they stare at me all the time. In winter, with my head up, they treat me nicer because they can't see me very well."
"So you're kind of hiding in your parka and in your hoodie?"
"Yeah, maybe. I get teased a lot less in winter."
"Summer is bad?"
"Sometimes real bad. I've been beat up a couple of times and I've had my money stolen lots of times."
"That's just wrong."
"Tell them," he said, pointing around at everyone else in the mall.
"I will," I said, "I will"
And you are telling us!
ReplyDeleteI like winter too. People and things are less loud and a lot slower. I can sort through my thoughts easier and I dont look like I am moving as if I am twenty years older.
ReplyDeleteIf it snows, the snow covers everything and I feel not as aggitated by everything...
Julia
This is heartbreaking.
ReplyDeleteWhen I was a teenaged girl and then a young woman, I liked winter better. Because in the summer girls and women are 'required' to show more skin, wear thinner fabrics, feel and look more exposed. In summer I received more unwanted male attention and felt more at risk. In winter I could wear a turtleneck AND a sweater AND a blazer and nobody asked why I was 'stuck up' or kidded me about how I 'never let anybody see my shape' (a direct quote, from a woman 20 years older!).
ReplyDeleteNow that I'm a senior citizen, I don't like winter -- the slippery walks, the arthritic twinges, the frequent upper respiratory stuff. And summer is much safer now.