“Hi, I’m Katrina.”
“And I’m Madison. I’m seven. What’s your name?”
“Angela.”
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“Where are you going?” Katrina asked. She had been riding her bike up five feet and back five feet, but had stopped in the middle of the sidewalk as I got closer.
“To see a friend.”“Why?”
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I stopped and shifted my briefcase to the other arm.
“Just to visit.”
“Is that bag heavy?” Madison asked.
“Not really. Well, a little,” I said.
“What’s in there?” they asked at the same time.
“My computer, a few books, pens. Nothing too exciting.”
“I have a computer, but it’s inside. I don’t carry it around,” Katrina said.
“Probably better for your back,” I replied.
“My grandpa has a bad back. He walks like this,” Madison said. She reached around and put both hands on her lower back and starting walking in circles. She was hunched over and even whimpered for effect. All three of us giggled.
“Okay girls, it was nice to meet you.” I stepped into the grass to bypass Katrina and her bike. I walked away and both girls trailed behind me.
“Will you stay and play with us?” Katrina asked. “We’ve got chalk.”
“And we can draw flowers. Well, you can draw whatever you want. I’m gonna draw flowers,” Madison said.
Lesson Learned
I couldn’t stay to play or draw pictures with sidewalk chalk; I was running late. It was nice to be invited though. As we get older many of us are taught, for the sake of social norms and conversation etiquette, to avoid blurting out exactly what comes to mind. It’s part of the burden of maturing. That’s why it’s so refreshing when someone, usually children, do just that. The next time I meet a new person, as long as he or she is even mildly interesting, I’ll have to try being that bold and friendly. It will be like revisiting the seven year-old Angela. We’ll see what happens.
