{"id":94620,"date":"2026-07-23T16:15:44","date_gmt":"2026-07-23T19:15:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/service.codeus.ca\/index.php\/2026\/07\/23\/colin-maclean-to-my-new-friend-lily\/"},"modified":"2026-07-23T16:15:44","modified_gmt":"2026-07-23T19:15:44","slug":"colin-maclean-to-my-new-friend-lily","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/service.codeus.ca\/index.php\/2026\/07\/23\/colin-maclean-to-my-new-friend-lily\/","title":{"rendered":"COLIN MACLEAN: To my new friend, Lily"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<p>\u201cI was disarmed by a child the other day. It was a humblingexperience, I must say,\u201d said Colin MacLean a recent column. MacLean said the girl asked him if he was Steve, Jack Black\u2019s character from the movie Minecraft. Photo by Colin MacLean \/Journal PioneerArticle contentI was disarmed by a child the other day.THIS CONTENT IS RESERVED FOR SUBSCRIBERS ONLY.Subscribe now to access this story and more:Unlimited access to the website and appExclusive access to premium content, newsletters and podcastsFull access to the e-Edition app, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment onEnjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalistsSupport local journalists and the next generation of journalistsSUBSCRIBE TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES.Subscribe or sign in to your account to continue your reading experience.Unlimited access to the website and appExclusive access to premium content, newsletters and podcastsFull access to the e-Edition app, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment onEnjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalistsSupport local journalists and the next generation of journalistsRegister to unlock more articles.Create an account or sign in to continue your reading experience.Access additional stories every monthShare your thoughts and join the conversation in our commenting communityGet email updates from your favourite authorsSign In or Create an AccountorArticle contentIt was a humbling experience, I must say.Article contentArticle contentI don\u2019t have a lot of know-how with kids. As an introverted only child, I was never around them much growing up, so I just didn\u2019t develop the knack for dealing with them in that easy way some people just seem to have.Article contentSo, when a random little girl hugged me, asked me to be her friend and invited me to her birthday party \u2014 nearly all in one breath \u2014 all I could do was stammer out a supremely unconvincing, \u201cUgh, um, ah.\u201dArticle contentArticle contentShe didn\u2019t notice or care about my awkward hesitation. She just smiled up at me.Article contentI was standing in line at Exor Games in Charlottetown and I was about to spend more money than I should on my hobbies, so I was in a good mood.Article contentThe gentleman ahead of me was buying or selling some cards in his collection, and that kind of thing is never a quick process. The staff were busy and I was in no rush, so I just stood there, looking around aimlessly as I waited patiently for my turn to be served.Article contentThe card seller had a little girl with him, I presume his daughter, talking his ear off as he split his attention between her stream of consciousness chatter and his own hobby wheelings and dealings.Article contentAll of a sudden, the girl half-skipped over to me and started chatting away at a mile a minute.Article contentHer name was Lily.Article contentWould I be her friend?Article contentHigh five? Down low? Too slow!Article contentCould she touch my beard?Article contentImportantly, she had a birthday coming up \u2014 I apologize that I can\u2019t remember how old she was turning \u2014 but would I come to her party? It would be fun.Article contentArticle contentI was wrongfooted from the get-go.Article contentArticle contentI wanted to be polite and friendly, but was also very aware that this child was talking to, and being very forward with, a strange man.Article contentI looked, again, I assume, to her dad for a reaction or indication of how to proceed. He was keeping an eye on things, but his casualness about it told me this was an everyday occurrence and he wasn\u2019t overly concerned.Article contentI wasn\u2019t about to break a promise to a child, so I deflected for all I was worth and steered the conversation away from her invite by saying something like \u201cWow, happy early birthday! I\u2019m 40 \u2014 that\u2019s like, soooo many yous.\u201dArticle contentShe seemed satisfied enough with my answer, but then scrunched up her face to eyeball me more closely and asked, \u201cAre you, Steve?\u201dArticle content\u201cNo, my name is Colin,\u201d I responded.Article content\u201cBut are you, Steve?\u201d she asked again, like I was dumb as a post.Article contentHer dad tried to come to my rescue by saying, \u201cShe asked that as we were coming in the store ahead of you. You know, \u2018I \u2026 am Steve!\u2019\u201d and he struck a hands on hips pose that I was obviously supposed to recognize.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>\u201cI was disarmed by a child the other day. It was a humblingexperience, I must say,\u201d said Colin MacLean a recent column. MacLean said the girl asked him if he was Steve, Jack Black\u2019s character from the movie Minecraft. Photo by Colin MacLean \/Journal PioneerArticle contentI was disarmed by a child the other day.THIS CONTENT [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":89,"featured_media":94621,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[118,590,1],"tags":[116,589],"class_list":["post-94620","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-indigenous","category-newfoundland-and-labrador","category-uncategorized","tag-indigenous","tag-newfoundland-and-labrador"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/service.codeus.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/94620","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/service.codeus.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/service.codeus.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/service.codeus.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/89"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/service.codeus.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=94620"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/service.codeus.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/94620\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/service.codeus.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/94621"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/service.codeus.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=94620"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/service.codeus.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=94620"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/service.codeus.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=94620"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}