I saw him eyeing me up as I stood in the band aid aisle of the drug store. I don't usually pay much attention to men who do that unless they get too close, then I give them the stink eye and ask them if I can help them.
But he was different. He had beautiful eyes; almond shaped and bright blue. It was those that caught my attention.
I saw him looking at me, and I smiled at him. He blushed slightly and looked away but looked up a couple of seconds later and met my gaze.
"Hullo" I said "How are you?"
He shuffled his feet and put his hands in his pockets. "I like your hair. It's purple" he said.
"Uh huh, it sure is. I'm glad you like it...."
"You...yo...you'reverypretty" he stammered.
"Aww, thank you! That's a very nice thing to say!"
He looked away again and shuffled his feet some more. After a brief pause he asked if he could have a hug. I said of course he could, and opened my arms to recieve him. He laid his head on my shoulder and when he lifted it up again he smiled at me.
"Thank you," I said "that was lovely. You're a very good hugger!"
" I get lots of hugs when I run at the Olympics. I run and I jump and I have medals that they gave me! I'm a purty good runner..."
"...Me too!" I said. "I'm not as good as you, probably, and I haven't won any medals, but I try all the same."
"They say that's what counts, that you try. 'May I be valiant in the...in the...in the attempt" he said proudly.
"That's right! That's what really matters, that you try. I have to go now....but it was very nice meeting you and thank you very much for the hug!"
"You're welcome" he said, waving at me as he wandered down the aisle.
It never ceases to amaze me that one single, solitary chromosone can make such a huge difference.....
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5 comments:
That was very sweet of you to give this young man a hug! Not many people today would have given him the time of day...you are very special!
Kathy: Aww, thank you! I can't NOT hug people like that, especially when they're polite and sweet with it. He was a very nice young man, and I was very pleased and proud that he wanted to hug me.
Good for you, NM! Too many people look at someone who's "different" and immediately write them off. But those are often the folks who are most worth getting to know! Years ago, when I was much younger and working for several bookstores (a campus bookstore, and a chain store) we had some customers that the other employees either actively avoided or simply ignored, because they looked, walked, or spoke oddly. (Everything from the gentleman whose scoliosis was slowly killing him, to the one who was in the midst of a psychotic episode when we first met.) Those were the people I most enjoyed helping - I always learned something from them.
A few years ago I had to take the bus to work for a couple of weeks. Along the route we picked up a number of downs syndrome and mildly retarded people. I used to sit in my seat and look at how miserable the "normal" people were as opposed to the smiling, laughing and all around good natured, loving "handicapped" people. I wish I had hugged every one of them, instead I sat quietly anl looked strait ahead until they got off the bus, then I could relax.
Who was the retarded one I often ask myself. I'm glad you know better.
I'm new here, and have been reading your entries with great interest. This one prompted me to comment:
Today I was looking after an old lady who had been deaf from birth. She spoke very loudly, and in the way that congenitally deaf people do. It upset me to see that others around me, doctors and nurses, treated her as though she was stupid, just because of how she sounded. She was a lovely, intelligent lady. How awful it is that so many people treat others on the basis of how they look and sound.
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