Kympatti Bears

BEARLY DEVOTED

I have always considered it wise to avoid certain subjects when writing these teddy tales, for I believe that there are topics, many of which are central to human endeavour, that teddy bears are simply too intelligent to be involved in.

The subjects that most readily come to mind are politics, religion and sex. You will be pleased to hear that so far I have not encountered a story involving any teddy bear with that total lack of acumen or intelligence necessary to become a politician, nor a teddy bear guilty of any degree of sexual intrigue. I do, however, have a teddy tale of a slightly religious nature and I hope that you will 'bear' with me in relating what I am sure is a purely non-sectarian episode.

The story unfolds several years ago in Singapore, at a time when teddy bears were something of a novelty in the region, with only one teddy shop operating on the island. That shop was 'Sasha's' in Seah Street, just behind Raffles Hotel. It is largely due to the owner, Vanessa Martin's promotion of teddies in the area, that the breed has achieved its current popularity there.

At the time of the shop's opening Patti and I were in Singapore promoting our bears and conducting bear making workshops. Vanessa had invited us over for the opening of her store and we were working from Sasha's and enjoying the ambience of Raffles when, in a chance conversation with one of the teddy shop sales girls, I learnt this rather poignant tale of devotion.

Singapore, along with many countries in the region, hosts a multicultural population, but the girl who told me the tale was obviously of the Christian persuasion and a member of the local church. It transpired that she and several of her friends were not only devout church goers, but also dedicated arctophiles. Hardly a conflicting set of circumstances you may think, but one that prompted a distinct ruffling of ecclesiastical feathers in this instance.

Now, it turns out these girls hated to part with their bears, not even during prayer time, and although it seems the bears behaved exceptionally well in church, displaying the appropriate reverence and joining the congregation in prayer and hymn, the reverend gentleman at the pulpit was somewhat miffed at their presence. It seems that the Reverend suffered the indignity of the situation for several weeks, until finally he decided to send his curate to visit my friend at her place of employment ... the Teddy Bear Shop.

His mission was to dissuade the girls from taking their bears to church and a low key diplomatic approach was the order of the day. After all, devout parishioners are one thing, devout teddy bears are a different matter entirely.

Of course, when the curate walked into the bear shop the girls were delighted to see him, having no idea of his mission. They immediately set about explaining the finer points of the various Steiffs, Hermans and Muffies, just to name a few.

Before long though, it became obvious to the curate that he had committed a gross tactical error in confronting the girls at work. For, as we all know, a bear shop is almost hallowed ground to an arctophile and some of those furry little critters could no doubt charm the devil himself. And, as you can imagine, there are few folk more enthusiastic than a arctophile working in a teddy bear shop.

It was quite a while before the poor man could steer the conversation around to the real reason for his visit, by which time the combined energies of several hundred teddies and a keen sales staff had conspired to seduce him into admiring a very fine Steiff bear named 'Penny Rose'. The curate had apparently possessed a bear as a child and he fondly recounted to the girls the companionship that an only child can find in a teddy.

The experience had left him kindly disposed toward the breed and although in agreement with his Reverend Superior that teddies were inappropriate at Sunday service, he found nothing remotely un-Chrisitian in their nature.

My friend chuckled as she told me this tory, recalling the image of a very confused and furtive curate, leaving the bear shop with a distinctly bear shaped parcel tucked under his arm.

Just how the curate explained Penny Rose to his boss, we will never know, and how the final compromise with the girls was reached is also a mystery. My guess is that those sales girls really know how to close a deal, but to be honest, one can never be sure where teddy bears are concerned. After all, in the words of the 'Immortal Bard' ... "all's well that ends well".

These days the bear shop girls still take their teddies to church each Sunday morning, although not to the actual service. Those teddies now happily congregate in the vestry, perchance for a service of their own with a rather reverent teddy called Penny.

As the more devout amongst you may declare, "the Lord moves in mysterious way, his wonders to perform"

God bless