My Daily Dose of Happy
Every day, I have the same routine. I get up, I eat breakfast, I get my stuff together, I get taken to the ferry station, and then I wait to begin my transit adventure to school. Because it takes as long as it does -- nearly two hours -- I have my MP3 player and I focus on getting as much of my class reading done as I can. Every now and again, something changes up, but it's usually something that puts me on edge, makes me uncomfortable, or just makes me shake my head. And it always has to do with the other transit patrons.
Today, however, something adorable happened.
As I was waiting for the ferry to arrive, my headphones on and my nose in my book, I saw in my peripheral vision a tiny little boy. He couldn't have been much higher than my knee. And he was looking up at me with his big brown eyes, trying to tell me something. So I took my headphones off, crouched down, and asked him politely to repeat himself. His voice was so tiny, I couldn't quite make out what he was saying. So his grandmother -- sitting on the bench not eight feet away -- clarified.
"He wants to know why you're wearing headphones."
I stared for a moment and smiled at the little boy, explaining simply that it was because I was listening to music. He nodded his understanding and continued staring at me, so I took my headphones from around my neck and held them out to him, offering to let him listen.
His grandmother asked, "Can you hear the music?" and he nodded quickly, smiling in response to my thankfully tame and upbeat music that happened to be on at the moment. "Can you dance to it?" she asked him. He nodded again and began to hop about, flashing me another smile before toddling off to climb onto the bench with his grandmother again.
As I straightened up, putting the headphones back around my neck, his grandmother looked at me warmly and thanked me, explaining to me that, "He saw you and asked me, 'Why is that mommy wearing phones?'."
I couldn't help but laugh. And assure her it really was nothing. And now, quite frankly, I don't think anything can ruin my day.
Today, however, something adorable happened.
As I was waiting for the ferry to arrive, my headphones on and my nose in my book, I saw in my peripheral vision a tiny little boy. He couldn't have been much higher than my knee. And he was looking up at me with his big brown eyes, trying to tell me something. So I took my headphones off, crouched down, and asked him politely to repeat himself. His voice was so tiny, I couldn't quite make out what he was saying. So his grandmother -- sitting on the bench not eight feet away -- clarified.
"He wants to know why you're wearing headphones."
I stared for a moment and smiled at the little boy, explaining simply that it was because I was listening to music. He nodded his understanding and continued staring at me, so I took my headphones from around my neck and held them out to him, offering to let him listen.
His grandmother asked, "Can you hear the music?" and he nodded quickly, smiling in response to my thankfully tame and upbeat music that happened to be on at the moment. "Can you dance to it?" she asked him. He nodded again and began to hop about, flashing me another smile before toddling off to climb onto the bench with his grandmother again.
As I straightened up, putting the headphones back around my neck, his grandmother looked at me warmly and thanked me, explaining to me that, "He saw you and asked me, 'Why is that mommy wearing phones?'."
I couldn't help but laugh. And assure her it really was nothing. And now, quite frankly, I don't think anything can ruin my day.