[nfbmi-talk] Fw: A Christmas Story

[Marcus Simmons]

FYI

----- Original Message ----- 
From: Dave Hutchins 
To: Undisclosed-Recipient:; 
Sent: Wednesday, December 25, 2013 3:39 AM
Subject: A Christmas Story



I was doing some last-minute Christmas shopping in a toy store and decided
to look at Barbie dolls for my nieces. A nicely dressed little girl was
excitedly looking through the Barbie dolls as well, with a roll of money
clamped tightly in her little hand. When she came upon a Barbie she liked,
she would turn and ask her father if she had enough money to buy it.

He usually said "yes," but she would keep looking and keep going through
their ritual of "do I have enough?" As she was looking, a little boy
wandered in across the aisle and started sorting through the Pokemon toys.
He was dressed neatly, but in clothes that were obviously rather worn, and
wearing a jacket that was probably a couple of sizes too small. He too had
money in his hand, but it looked to be no more than five dollars or so at
the most. He was with his father as well, and kept picking up the Pokemon
video toys. Each time he picked one up and looked at his father, his father
shook his head, "No."

The little girl had apparently chosen her Barbie, a beautifully dressed,
glamorous doll that would have been the envy of every little girl on the
block. However, she had stopped and was watching the interchange between the
little boy and his father. Rather dejectedly, the boy had given up on the
video games and had chosen what looked like a book of stickers instead. He
and his father then started walking through another aisle of the store.

The little girl put her Barbie back on the shelf, and ran over to the
Pokemon games. She excitedly picked up one that was lying on top of the
other toys, and raced toward the check-out, after speaking with her father.
I picked up my purchases and got in line behind them. Then, much to the
little girl's obvious delight, the little boy and his father got in line
behind me.

After the toy was paid for and bagged, the little girl handed it back to the
cashier and whispered something in her ear. The cashier smiled and put the
package under the counter.

I paid for my purchases and was rearranging things in my purse when the
little boy came up to the cashier. The cashier rang up his purchases and
then said, "Congratulations, you are my hundredth customer today, and you
win a prize!" With that, she handed the little boy the Pokemon game, and he
could only stare in disbelief. It was, he said, exactly what he had wanted!

The little girl and her father had been standing at the doorway during all
of this, and I saw the biggest, prettiest, toothless grin on that little
girl that I have ever seen in my life. Then they walked out the door, and I
followed close behind them. As I walked back to my car in amazement over
what I had just witnessed, I heard the father ask his daughter why she had
done that. I'll never forget what she said to him.

"Daddy, didn't Nana and PawPaw want me to buy something that would make me
happy?"

He said, "Of course they did, honey."

To which the little girl replied, "Well, I just did!"

With that, she giggled and started skipping toward their car. Her toothless
grin said it all. Apparently, she had decided on the answer to her own
question of, "Do I have enough?"

I feel very privileged to have witnessed the true spirit of Christmas in
that toy store, in the form of a little girl who understands more about the
reason for the season than most adults I know!

It is respectable to be blind, treat others the way you would want to be treated.