On the streets of Stockholm

Last Saturday, I was out with some friends at the Underbar in Söder, with some friends. It was a nice cozy place with good food. It had everything I love about Stockholm’s pubs, the ambience and crowd. Around 8.30 PM, I left for home as I had some shopping to do, early next morning. I was walking up the Götgatan towards Slussen. I like walking on Götgatan, since it is always full of life and it is such a contrast to the side roads that cross Götgatan. The side roads are usually completely empty, barring the occasional polis vehicles securing the area or some hugging their friends on the way home. So, I usually stop on the cross roads and look around before starting to walk again.

That day, as usual, I was standing on the crossing of Hökens gata, looking at nothing in particular. I looked to the left there was the apparel shopping mall with the night club with people dancing and having fun. On the right, Hökens gata looked darker and narrower than usual. Except for a few street lights hanging from the threads between the buildings, there was not much lighting. Even in the dark, I could make out a couple walking up towards Södra Teatern with their kid on the pram.

There was nothing special about this couple, but I stopped involuntarily and kept looking towards them.  Though, I could not see their faces, I think they seemed to be in their early forties. The man was pushing the pram and the woman seemed to be having some trouble walking even at a normal pace. There were only about 25 meters up the street from where I stood, so I could hear them. They were discussing about where to go after the show at Södra Teatern. The woman was not able to make up her mind where to go, she was confused whether to go to some place quiet to have dinner and wine, or to some of the local family pubs down near Mosbacke. Or maybe, just go back home and have pizza.

Then the kid in the pram began to cry, who had been almost silent, since I had started watching them. The man got out a water bottle and gave it to the kid, but it threw it away and began to cry louder. He then played with some of the toys hanging from the pram. The kid was quiet for a minute, but then began to cry again. The woman decided it was enough, and took matters into her own hands. She bent forward to pick up the kid. That’s when I noticed the woman was pregnant. Anyways, the kid became quiet as soon as she touched the kid. She seemed to have some kind of magic hands.

After a couple of minutes, the woman put the kid back in to the pram, back they went to discussing about their evening plan. I slowly started walking up behind them without my knowledge. Finally they decided to go to Indian Garden restaurant on Hornsgatan after the show. Then, the woman asked about the show tickets to the Södra Teatern, that’s when the man realized he had missed it at home. J I really did not want to see or hear what happened after that. But before I could stop and turn back towards Slussen, the woman stopped and looked at the man with some kind of anger. But she suddenly cooled down and managed to handle the situation by calling the Teatern reception.

That was when I had the opportunity to look at the woman’s face. She looked very much like my dear colleague and scrum master, only about 10 years older. She was still as beautiful, probably a bit more than now, with the added responsibility and caring. Most importantly, the radiant and heart warming smile was very much still there.