Y’all - it was hot as fuck yesterday when I left work, and I was mad as hellfire about having to go pick up my groceries at Walmart. I mean, I don’t just call the ol’ Chevy banger a shitbox for no reason - we literally just had to cut the belt off the AC compressor last weekend because the bearing was out and it sounded like a 1930s war plane about take off under my hood - so it’s a solid black shitbox oven now.
Although I really wanted to say fuck the required life supplies
and go straight home, I toughed it out and went to LaGrange, whipped up into spot
#6 in the pickup section, and grabbed my phone to check in....hoping like hell
they weren’t running behind again because if they were I was mostly certainly
going to have a heat stroke and die before I got my body wash and coffee
creamer.
“I really like your earrings!” - a little girl’s voice
almost startles me, because I hadn’t even started people watching yet, and honestly
didn’t realize she was even sitting there in the car beside me. I slowly look
over, and there she sits, in an Explorer that apparently had a bad bearing in
the AC compressor too, because I can think of NO good reason to be sitting
there with the windows down otherwise.
I reached up and grabbed my earring because I didn’t even
remember which ones I had thrown in that morning, and was like “Oh, well thank
you!” And boy, did her ice breaker work.
From that point on, I caught the whole business on her first day as a middle
schooler at South Oldham.
She told me about how she had the wear her mask all day, but
it was only bad in the hallways when it got crowded and stuffy. She told me
that they weren’t allowed to go their lockers between each class, that they had
locker breaks after every 2 classes to keep the masses down in the hallways, so
her books in her bag were heavy. She told me that they get 23 minutes for
lunch, but the line was so long, she barely got 5 minutes to eat and that she
ate lunch in the gym instead of the lunchroom. She told me that her art teacher
likes to take pictures of dead birds and then paint them and hang them in her
house. She told me that the same art teacher requested permission from the
principal to have knives in her classroom because opening boxes with scissors
was dangerous.
Her mother is sitting there in the driver’s seat about half
amused at how excited her daughter was to tell an absolute stranger about her
first day of middle school, and looks about half relieved that the person she
decided to spill the tea to was at least being nice and engaging in conversation
with her. Actually, she almost looked thankful.
And then the little girl says, “About three weeks ago I
tried out for volleyball, but unfortunately, I didn’t make the team.” I replied,
“Aw, well that stinks!” And she said, “I only had one day to try out and we
normally get three, but it’s okay.”
And she proceeds, “Today in my last class a girl that tried
out with me asked me how my summer was, I told her that I went to Sarasota, and
(a couple other places but the details there escape me). She told me the best
part of her summer was that she actually MADE the volleyball team.”
Y’all, I don’t even
know this child before me’s name, but boyyyyyyyyy...
I reigned my “wish a motherfucker would” back in, and said, “Did you tell her you were too busy living your best life all summer to practice?” Her eyes lit up a little, and she said “No, but I will tomorrow.” Her mother is smiling again at this point, and said “Don’t that make you wanna go to the school and snatch a kid up?” I was like, “girl...there’s a rotten one in every bunch.”
About that time, the Walmart person comes out with their
supplies, and starts loading their stuff up. My new friend hops out and starts
to walk to the back of the truck to help the Walmart person. As she hops out, I
see she’s got the cutest damn jeans on, so I told her they were super cute. She
then says to me, with a small pose, “we got them at Ross, have you ever been
there?” GIRL, YES.
Anyway - I just wanted to give a give a shout out to this pretty
little girl for helping pass the time and take my mind off how miserably hot it
was sitting there in that parking lot, and for doing so with intelligent and
humorous conversation.
ALSO, shout out to her MOTHER.
...for not hovering or making her stop talking to me.
...for paying attention enough to know that it was safe for her to talk to me.
...for raising a child that is polite and a joy to talk to.
...for raising her to have the confidence to be that outgoing and brave.
...for raising a child proud to wear those bargain jeans!
...for raising a child that didn’t hesitate to help when the groceries arrived.
...for the fact that your child sat there in the heat and never once complained
about it.
...I promise you - your daughter will do far bigger and greater things than that
girl in her last period class who made the volleyball team.
I hope y’all get your AC compressor fixed soon, but until
then...I hope you continue to make new friends in parking lots. ♥
