Every Goose a Swan

[radegund]

One of the swans on the canal, the ones who hang around down by Sally's Bridge, is a goose. I noticed it the other day when I was bringing Oisín to the crèche.

I don't know whether it's an undercover goose, or a consultant goose, or a goose on secondment bringing goose skills to enhance certain aspects of the swans' way, or a goose on a cross-community training placement, or what. But there it does be, happily paddling around in a cluster of swans, head held high, unabashedly gooselike.

(There are a lot more swans on our stretch of canal now that Luas Line A has opened: they used to stay up around Inchicore for most of the winter.)

Dick Murphy, the elderly man who lives down the road from us, has noticed the goose too. He and I walked back from Sally's Bridge together on Tuesday morning, when I'd brought Oisín to the crèche and was coming home to have conjunctivitis in peace. He feeds the swans on the canal every day, moving slowly along the footpath and down the slope to get close to the water. He can't use the steps since he had his knee done. We chatted about feeding swans, and knee replacements, and the weather, and he bent with great care to pick up a tangerine peel from the cycle path, because he knew a man who slipped on one of those once and broke his ankle. When we got to where I had to cross the road he said goodbye and turned back towards the bridge, and I realised that he'd been escorting me, because I am a lady.

Comments

[jeejeen.livejournal.com]

Ha ha, undercover goose!

he bent with great care to pick up a tangerine peel from the cycle path, because he knew a man who slipped on one of those once and broke his ankle

That almost made me cry and I'm not even pre-menstrual.

[radegund.livejournal.com]

Oh, I cry at bloody anything these days, and I haven't been premenstrual since October 2003 :-)

[socmot.livejournal.com]

The goose is a consultant that didn't have to compete for the tender for the job it does, gets paid an outrageous amount of money and was actively promoted by the minister swan because the two are friends.

There was an investigation made into the matter, and while some recommendations have been put forward, the minister swan in question will remain a minister. And the goose gets to remain as a consultant for the forseeable future.

Oh dear. I think maybe my intense dislike of a certain political party has gotten to me.

[radegund.livejournal.com]

HAAAAAAHAHAHA!

That swan minister was completely vindicated. Completely. For shame!

[socmot.livejournal.com]

The swan minister has been irrevocably damaged! And is barely credible in the representation of his portfolio, or any portfolio! His previous portfolio saw him waste a massive amount of feathers with a deeply flawed swan-voting system. What will he do next? Hire a goose instead of a duck? A crane, perhaps?

*squawk*

[kulfuldi.livejournal.com]

I'll bet it's a goose on secondment bringing goose skills to enhance certain aspects of the swans' way. It's probably coaching them in setting ambitious strategic objectives and developing a human resource enhancement concept, with a view to meeting targets in the context of a time-bound workplan. I've been at a work 'planning retreat' for two days, so I can say that sort of thing without even blinking.

Did you know your neighbour before Oisin was born? (sorry, no fadas in this window) Or do you find that people are more inclined to chat to you when you have a baby with you?

[radegund.livejournal.com]

A "planning retreat" is not something about which I wish to think too clearly. You do the jargon with unnerving plausibility.

As it happens, we have known this neighbour since we moved in. He bonded with Niall over the surname. He does have a tendency not to recognise me, but I don't hold it against him. But yes, I do also find that having a baby with me occasions much chat. It's very strange to experience slotting into a vast and easily recognisable category...