It's not often that kids will blow my mind, but this morning my head is spinning with the amount of dynamite that just surged through it. I can understand kids in Uganda or Ethiopia telling me tales similar to what I just heard, but we live in the United States of America, the land of indoor plumbing, home of the light switches. What makes it worse, is it happened twice this morning.
Lets back up a few minutes. My daughter, Holland, was getting ready for school this morning and was running late on time. She decided that sweet pickles were her solution to a quick breakfast (I agree, sweet pickles should be illegal! I haven't kicked her out because I'm trying to love her in spite of her bad decisions). She shoved five or six pickles in a small sandwich bag and we headed out the door for the bus. As we chat, she chomped, savoring every bite (I tried not to spew at the idea of what was taking place inches away). A neighbor girl joined us on our commute and declared her love of sweet pickles over dill pickles (this is bad, but believe me, it get's worse). Soon, the two girls have formed a line in anticipation of filing into the bus. As the line grew, I asked the boy directly behind Holland his preferred, sweet or dill. "I've never had a pickle", he confessed. Silence. Staring. "What?" I couldn't believe what I was hearing, "You've NEVER had a pickle?! What about a cucumber?" He denied ever even having a cucumber. My brains were wreathing in pain, this could not be true, but how should I know? Convincing myself that this third grader was an exception, I turned to the second grade boy just arriving, "YOU'VE had a pickle, right?" A confident "Nope" sent shock waves through my body. As this sad line of children filed toward the halted bus, I turned and stared at the transient flashing through my vision as I walked in awe. Could this really be? These kids come from good families. Yet, they have been deprived of basic essentials for living. Pickles are necessity in life, if not regularly, at least at Thanksgiving.
Now, I find myself asking the world. Is this normal? Have you tried a pickle? They are on at least half of the fast food hamburgers throughout the world. Please affirm you've tried a pickle and please proclaim your love for dill. You cannot say, "It's a dill pickle" with a bread & butter or sweet pickle. It just doesn't work.
Lets back up a few minutes. My daughter, Holland, was getting ready for school this morning and was running late on time. She decided that sweet pickles were her solution to a quick breakfast (I agree, sweet pickles should be illegal! I haven't kicked her out because I'm trying to love her in spite of her bad decisions). She shoved five or six pickles in a small sandwich bag and we headed out the door for the bus. As we chat, she chomped, savoring every bite (I tried not to spew at the idea of what was taking place inches away). A neighbor girl joined us on our commute and declared her love of sweet pickles over dill pickles (this is bad, but believe me, it get's worse). Soon, the two girls have formed a line in anticipation of filing into the bus. As the line grew, I asked the boy directly behind Holland his preferred, sweet or dill. "I've never had a pickle", he confessed. Silence. Staring. "What?" I couldn't believe what I was hearing, "You've NEVER had a pickle?! What about a cucumber?" He denied ever even having a cucumber. My brains were wreathing in pain, this could not be true, but how should I know? Convincing myself that this third grader was an exception, I turned to the second grade boy just arriving, "YOU'VE had a pickle, right?" A confident "Nope" sent shock waves through my body. As this sad line of children filed toward the halted bus, I turned and stared at the transient flashing through my vision as I walked in awe. Could this really be? These kids come from good families. Yet, they have been deprived of basic essentials for living. Pickles are necessity in life, if not regularly, at least at Thanksgiving.
Now, I find myself asking the world. Is this normal? Have you tried a pickle? They are on at least half of the fast food hamburgers throughout the world. Please affirm you've tried a pickle and please proclaim your love for dill. You cannot say, "It's a dill pickle" with a bread & butter or sweet pickle. It just doesn't work.
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