25 July 08
An Activist Awakening
Last night Andrew and I were lucky enough to be asked by our dear friends to pick up The Cutest Little Girl in the World (aka Ella) from day care and spend the evening with her while her parents enjoyed other plans. I was thrilled when her face lit up as I walked into her classroom and she pointed out all the other kids in the class and I got to meet her wonderful teacher Miss E and hear about her day. Since Andrew was starving, and she was hungry, too. We suggested we take her to Goose Island for dinner. Goose Island is a local brewery/brew-pub and they’re a huge restaurant and they were easily on the way to home so it made sense to stop there. They’re a pretty kid-friendly place. They have a separate kids menu (someday I’ll go off on why I hate kids menus) with paper placemats and packs of crayons and special cups with locking lids and straws. They’ve got their kid-happy vibe going on strong.
As we were close to finishing our meals, I noticed that Ella was squirming an awful lot. “Do you need to go to the bathroom?” She jumped out of her chair and trotted to the bathroom in front of me. She explained to me that she was old enough to go in the stall by herself.
We come out of our stalls at the same time and she walks over to the sink and hops up on the counter at the waist to reach the faucets. As soon as her hands are wet she realizes that the soap is placed really high on the wall. She jumps down and says excitedly, “I guess I’ll just have to climb up over here to get the soap.”
“I can hold you up. No sense climbing up on the sink.”
“Naw, I can do it.”
“Okay,” I say and back off as she struggles trying to get up high enough to reach and she’s no where close enough and the counter is all wet. As soon as she realizes her shirt is getting wet she jumps down and looks at me with indignation and frustration. “Now would you like me to help you up?”
She just tightens her lips and nods. So I lift her up and she gets the soap.
“I can’t believe how high they put the soap up in here,” she says. “I SHOULD be able to reach the soap by myself. I mean, what if you weren’t here to help me?” She walks back to the sink and realizes she has to jump up to reach the faucets and gives me the same annoyed and indignant look. I reach over to turn them on for her and she holds her hands out at her shoulders (one of them is full of soap foam). “I mean, its just not fair! I should be able to reach the sink and the soap. It’s just not fair! I mean, you know? The soap is WAY too high! And the sink is too far away! And the paper towels, too! I mean, think about it! If its this hard for me, how hard would it be for a two-year-old? They don’t even have a stool!”
“I do believe you just made your first rant about sizeism and ageism.”
“Why are you smiling and making fun of me?”
I bend down to her level and put my hands on her shoulders. “Oh, honey. I’m not making fun of you at all. You didn’t just realize that you had a hard time with something, but you realized that if you have a hard time with something then others would have a hard time with it, too. You’re amazing.”
She just looked at me suspicious and turned to wash her hands in silence. When she was done, she just waved her hand at the sink. “See! I’m wasting water because I can’t REACH the sink!” She turned to the paper towels and I handed her one to dry off her hands. “I mean, I’m gonna be 5 real soon! 5! I’m going to kindergarten. It’s just not fair that I can’t reach the sink.”
“You’re absolutely right, honey. I couldn’t agree with you more.”
She looked at me suspiciously. “So you’re not making fun of me?”
“Nope, I think you’re brilliant and its very kind of you to think of those younger and shorter than you.”
“Hmmf! Well, at least I can reach the door.”
Comments
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I’m impressed. By Ella, for being so determined and insightful. By you, for writing about this experience in such a way that I’m moved to tears.
— shokufeh on Jul 25, 12:52 pm
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Ella seems like a wise young lady, but how does she feel about kids menus?
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