I signed in at the secretary’s desk, looped my visitor’s pass around my neck, and then passed from the office into the hallway, just as swarms of children, from their waiting lines on the playground, entered school to start their day. A very small girl—had to be in kindergarten, if that—was leading an even smaller girl (a half pack of peanuts), hustling off toward their classroom, when they stopped right in front of me and began looking me up and down, taking in this stranger with a suit and tie and briefcase. The half pack of peanuts was wide-eyed and open-mouthed, but the very small girl guiding her, confidently smiled right up at me, with a look like it had suddenly occurred to her that I was an outsider and she had an obligation (and—what luck— a golden opportunity) to welcome me to her school. Without letting go of her tiny companion, she locked eyes with me and raised a hand to her forehead and perfectly executed a military salute.
If you had asked me at the time to list 100 things this girl might do after she looked right at me, military salute would not have been on that list. I wasn’t immediately sure how to respond—it was quite comical and highly unexpected— but I had to think of something, because she stood her ground, continued her salute, and held me there with her gaze. I quickly fumbled my water bottle into the hand that was carrying my briefcase—freeing a hand—so I could do the only thing that would have been acceptable. I brought my free hand to my forehead and returned the salute. With that, she released her salute and dismissed me with a sharp little nod of her head, as if to say, “okay, you’ve been properly welcomed, now carry on.” She waited for me to move (I was dismissed, after all), so I returned her nod and made my way into the conference room to set up a command post. With that, she pulled her little charge with her on to their kindergarten class where, for this little girl, a day of adventures must be waiting.
Kindergartners have to spend most of their day just trying to figure out how to be people, because let’s face it, they haven’t been on the planet very long. I’ve been on the planet a long time, but occasionally the story of my day can still be told through a small moment of unexpected, refreshing joy provided by an incredibly little person.
