I usually park my scooter outside the shop and survey the new arrivals on the sidewalk before I walk in and exchange pleasantries before buying what I need. During this lovely tete-a-tete I have the pleasure of overhearing the conversations of other “customers”. Most of these, at 8.30 am are school kids or grandparents with children.
Being a big one for enjoying the little things in life, I want to share today’s joy with you:
Enter, Grandpa and four year old little boy.
Boy: Lollipop!
Grandpa: Wait. (asks the storekeeper for bread, etc.)
Boy: (Tugging at grandpa’s shirt) Lollipop!
Grandpa: Wait (busy counting out change for the payment)
Boy: (Jumping up and down) LOLLIPOP!
Grandpa grabs him up and brings him eye-level to the counter and kid instantly points at the jar with the lollipop and says: LOLLIPOP!
Grandpa: But you have some at home
Kid: I want now
Grandpa: Will you bring this home and eat?
Kid: NO
Grandpa: Then?
Kid: Eat now.
Grandpa: Then I won’t give you the one at home today.
Kid: Ok. Now. Lollipop here.
Grandpa looks at my amused face (of course I’ve been there many times and done it more times than I can remember) and laughing, asks the store guy for the chocolate lollipop and hands it to the little guy and asks: Shall I open it?
Kid: No.
Grandpa: But you said you want to eat it now
Kid: No. Go home.
Grandpa: You could have had the one we have at home, then
Kid: No. This chocolate. That not.
Grandpa: (he’s a good-humored guy, he is – and bursts out laughing). Ok, ok.
Then the both of them wander off, hand in hand, talking..
Only kids have the power to be consistent with their “No”. And it always amazes me how they get by with ten words in their entire vocabulary!
Realizing I too had to shop, I asked the store guy for what I wanted. As he gathered the items, a schoolgirl, about ten years old, walked in.
She: Give me the five rupees Cadbury chocolate and five rupees Lays chips
He tears off a Lays pack and adds the Cadbury to it.
She: No I want a different flavor of Lays
He asks her which one and tears that off.
She: Um….I don’t want the chocolate. Give me the ten rupees Lays
He gives it to her
She, a look of deep dilemma on her face and rummaging in her tiny purse for money, hands over a crumpled ten rupee note
He: (holding the tip of the note and waving it) this note is not valid (of course he is joking - but he's not sure if it won't fall to pieces in his money box or decompose. Paper is biodegradable, right?!)
She: I don’t have anything else
He: Ok, next time bring a fresher note.
She: Ok thanks (she grabs the five rupee Lays and five rupee chocolate, forgetting she asked for the ten rupee Lays and rushes out to meet her friends).
He and I both look at each other and burst out laughing, of course.
Hmm…lucky I didn’t forget what I went there for, what with all the eavesdropping I was busy with. I carry a list you see. Those chips may be tempting - but....
Some lovely posts I read this week are:
Terri Sonoda's Moments of Clarity
Keetha Broyles' One Frag, Two Frag, Three Frag, Four!
Galen Pearl's Thinking out loud
Victor Schueller's The Root of Ego
Evelyn Lim's 5 Reasons Why You Need to Love What You Do
And if you freak out on baby videos like I do - here's a treat from Code Name Mama
Have a wonderful weekend, folks! As for me, I am going to be busting my a** - working it off like crazy.
