Innocence

A few days ago I was walking the isles of our local grocery store, which is actually an experience I look forward to weekly since I get to wander around and "think"!  I mean, really, how often do we get to just space out for about an hour and think about all the stuff that wants to pulse through our minds on a regular basis?  So I was completely oblivious to the world around me as I went up and down each lane picking out my supplies.

Turning a corner to enter a new aisle of thought I noticed a mom with two little boys at the end.  One little boy was small enough to be sitting in the cart with his chicken legs dangling about.  He was also waving ferociously.  Honestly, I didn't notice until I was almost up to them that he'd been waving all along.  As I was passing them by I smiled at him but his vibrating hand just mechanically continued back and forth, back and forth with amazing speed.  He kept this pace up the whole time I was walking the aisle.

Finally as I almost turned to leave that aisle I decided to wave back to him.  That was it. That's all he wanted.  He smiled and stopped his waving duty.

Now, I'm not usually the kind of person who dotes on little children as if they were angelic little souls with a precious aura.  I usually look at kids and think they're cute and all, but then think of the work and responsibility tied to them (hence after 8 years of marriage I am still childless. Also I'm deathly terrified of being responsible for an entire human being's life...ugh...makes me shudder in fright!).  However, in this instance I couldn't help but smile. 

This little guy was so persistent.  Was he looking for something in return?  Only the same gesture of kindess.  Then I think about adults.  We walk past hundreds of our kindred spirits ever day.  Certainly, we don't go out of our way to wave and make sure they feel acknowledged.  Heck, most of the time we're just wearing a scowl from all the "weight" we feel we have endured that day.  If anything, kids teach us a lesson.  Smile.  Say hello to a stranger.  Loosen your load.  At the end of the day, it's those little things that can change your outlook on life.