Restoring My Faith in Humanity

"Kids Are Our Future..."

Yeah, of course they are. So our future is a bunch of screaming, crying, pooping, messy, misbehaved brats.

That's what I gather, at least, every day at my store. A family walks in together, then disperses... mom looks at the Boutiques while eight year old Billy and four year old Sally bee-line for the Heely's. Billy tries out each style of these shoes with wheels individually, leaving rubber skid marks on the tile floor. Sally gets bored and entertains herself with the light-up Princess shoes, knocking each run into the next, throwing tissue and box lids around like it's confetti.

Just when they've made about all the mess they can make, Billy skates over to Salle and runs into her, knocking her down and into the corner of the bin, where she gets a minor bleeding scratch. That scratch is not minor to Sally. She sees blood and immediately starts screaming her head off.

Mom barely looks up. "Billy, be nice to your sister," she drones from across the store. She's trying on a pair of shoes that make no mother a good example.

Sally can't stand that no one is paying attention to her. She screams louder and runs to her mom, screaming for her until she finds her. Mom notices Sally's bloody scratch and directs her frustration towards me: "...get my kid a band-aid?"

I walk to the cash wrap, where my first aid kid is kept, and only Sally follow. Billy knocks down a stack of shoes waiting to be put away, toppling boxes all across the sales floor.

Mom is done shopping-- "come on, guys. This store never has anything that fits me." They leave, ignoring my polite goodbyes, Walking through the aisles, I notice that mom has left stacks of shoe boxes on the benches, many of them empty because she's put the shoes elsewhere.

I sigh a great sigh... this is our future.

These are the situations I encounter every day: at work, at school, shopping, or dining. How, then, could I have any sort of hope for our future generations? How could I have any faith in humanity?

Well, ProgressiveU-ers, my answer is Girl Scouts.

The other day, on a break from the job which causes me so much anguish, I went to the grocery store where there are often people outside selling things. That day, it was Girl Scout cookies.

The sweetest girl I've ever seen, probably about eight years old, asked me if I would like to buy a box of Girl Scout cookies to support their troop. She was wearing her adorable uniform and a great big genuine smile.

I was overwhelmed with happiness over how adorable and polite this girl was, so I turned toward the table to buy a box (or five). To my great dismay, the line was four-deep, and I had about seven minutes to get back to work.

I asked the Girl Scout what other days her troop would be selling cookies; unfortunately, that was the only day.

Expecting to see disappointment from the girl, I was surprised once again. Still smiling, she told me, "it's okay, maybe next time," and told me in the most genuine way to "have a nice day."

It doesn't happy very often, but that day, my faith in the future was restored. Not everyone is a mindless, screaming, messy little brat. Not all parents are bad ones.

Maybe if everyone was a Girl Scout, the world would be a better place.

Good luck, future.

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