How Fainjin got his name

Once upon a time, there was a little boy who didn’t have many words.  But he really liked fire engines.

Every vehicle that is red, or has a flashing light, is a fire engine.  He made a rubbish collector’s day once, with his unstinting admiration for the “fireman”.  On the other hand, a policeman grinned ruefully and admitted that “the fire guys get all the fans”.  We have a couple of trikes, and whichever one he is riding is a fire engine (which is also liable to “CRASH!!!!” at any moment).  His stroller, which has a steering wheel, is a fire engine quite often, so you can find us on our walks by listening out for the “weeee-oooo weeee-oooo” echoing around.  His toy dump truck is a fire engine.

He is so exuberant about all these, it was a suprise, and a special treat, to see the quiet awe in his eyes one day when a real fire engine came to our neighbourhood.  Fortunately, our neighbour’s house was not damaged.  But we waited on the corner and waved as the firemen left.  And they all waved back.

Tags: fainjin