A Very Immature First-Grader, and a Second-Grader Who Cut Him A Bit of Slack

Daniel was telling me about a lad from his school, for whom he seemed to have little tolerance, and I found myself making excuses for this sorry youngster.

He had an accident, and he's in first grade.

- Well, you don't have to be a little kid to miscalculate with your bladder.

He has a lunchbox like Madeleine's.  He has curly hair, like Madeleine.

- Well, I had curly hair as a lad.  [I'd be grateful for any hair right about now...]

And then, the very worst:  he had a Hello Kitty water bottle.  But the way that I found out about this particular piece of guy-contraband put Daniel way up in my book, in spite of his otherwise-intolerant-sounding tone:  A "Hello Kitt" water bottle fell out of his bag, but Daniel picked it up and gave it to him without telling anyone.  But the way that Daniel reported it was precious in its own right - something like:  "And when a Hello Kitty water bottle fell out of his bag, I picked it up and gave it to him without telling any of his friends - actually I don't know if he has any friends."

I was relieved to know that, on reflection, Daniel remembered that this Uncool-American does have a friend.

In any case, I was pleased that Daniel recognizes that we have to respect people even when we really, really don't admire them.

(November 4, 2013)