Standing in line at the grocery store at Chelsea Market. There was a little boy in a stroller in front of me, and it looked like he was with his grandmother. He and I made eye contact. I smiled and waved.<\/p>\n
He barked up at me, “How are you?”<\/p>\n
I said, “I’m good! How are you?”<\/p>\n
He then waved at me insistently, in that way little kids do – holding up his hand and then repeatedly scrunching his fingers in and out.<\/p>\n
I waved.<\/p>\n
He barked up at me, “How are you?”<\/p>\n
He was very concerned for my welfare, apparently.<\/p>\n
I said, “So good, so good! And you?”<\/p>\n
He scrunched his fingers at me.<\/p>\n
He had on black Hi-top sneakers. So did I.<\/p>\n
I said, “Hey, look – we have on the same shoes!”<\/p>\n
He glanced at his feet, stuck his legs straight out, and then squirmed his whole body around in some sort of pleased response at the sheer coincidence of our shoes.<\/p>\n
I said, “Some people think those shoes are just for kids.”<\/p>\n
He barked up at me, “How are you?”<\/p>\n
I said, “So good! And how are you?”<\/p>\n
He lapsed into quiet contemplation at the sheer depth of my question.<\/p>\n
Then he stuck his legs out again, showing me his shoes, and wiggled his body around.<\/p>\n
I said, “Awesome. I love those shoes.”<\/p>\n
He barked up at me, “How are you?”<\/p>\n
(By this point, everyone in line was starting to laugh.)<\/p>\n
I said, “Good! Again, like I said before, I’m really good! How are you?”<\/p>\n
His grandmother murmured a word of encouragement, “You can tell her how YOU are doing!”<\/p>\n
He took her words in, thought about them, and then barked up at me, “How are you?”<\/p>\n
“Oh, honey, I’m so good today. How are you?”<\/p>\n
It was their turn in line. His stroller was then moved away from me so he wasn’t facing me, so I obviously ceased to exist to the little boy. For that time anyway.<\/p>\n
Then they were done, and it was my turn. His grandmother turned the stroller around, and he caught sight of me again, his long-lost friend of 3 minutes ago. He held up his hand and scrunched his fingers in and out.<\/p>\n
I said, “Hi again!”<\/p>\n
He shouted, “BYE!”<\/p>\n
I waved at him. “Bye-bye!”<\/p>\n
His grandmother started to wheel him away and right before he was out of sight, I heard him call out, “How are you?”<\/p>\n
It was totally profound.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Standing in line at the grocery store at Chelsea Market. There was a little boy in a stroller in front of me, and it looked like he was with his grandmother. He and I made eye contact. I smiled and … Continue reading