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DAVID BENTLEY'S WEEKLY COLUMN |
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BUSTED
It was Thursday evening. I had been to the movie theater matinee, and was enjoying supper at a lovely restaurant. The dinner crowd was light, and the lone waitress was extra friendly. She had just served the table near the far wall where a couple with a preschool aged grandson had ordered an entree from the children's menu. The waitress had asked the child if his food was satisfactory, and he'd responded in the affirmative. Then, as the waitress headed back to her station, the clever little boy astounded the entire restaurant with his loudly verbalized observation. "Grandpa," he said, "You forgot to say grace!" Immediately, the rest of the diners chuckled while the waitress spun on her heels and, waiving her hand in front of her face, said,"Oh my God, isn't that just the sweetest thing you ever heard?" Personally, my first thought was not about the sweetness of the comment. Instead, I was thinking that once again an adult got busted by a little kid. You see, if there is one thing that I learned in my 13 years of teaching elementary school it was that children thrive on consistency; and they love to point out inconsistency to the adults who are in charge of them. It is easy to be very consistent at home about saying grace before meals. However it can be awkward to follow that practice in a public restaurant. We teach our children to tell the truth, to be kind to others, to never cheat, to respect their elders, to ask for help when they need it, and many other social norms. We expect them to adhere to these rules, and punish them when they don't. Yet we don't always follow them ourselves and never think anything of it. Thank goodness for children precocious enough to catch us before we get ourselves in trouble.
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SAN JUAN ISLANDER © 2008 |
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