The boy sat at a table next to us and was reading the table topper display about the restaurant donating five cents from every kid's meal to help fight childhood hunger. When his dad sat down, the boy shoved the display towards him and said, "We need to eat here more often. Read this!"
"Wow, what a compassionate kid." I thought.
Dad glanced at the information and shoved it aside.
"Must have gotten that compassion from mom," the teacher in me wanted to shout at him, "Wake up! You have an incredible kid here." I know, none of my business, but kids are my business and this one was displaying something I rarely see.
Then, as often happens with first impressions, I learned snap judgments are just that--a snapshot. My take on the situation was not complete--a small window in time that didn't tell the whole story.
The father leaned closer to the boy, asked him how he was doing, and then said he needed to apologize. Whoa! What I took as indifference was really preoccupation. Here was a dad ready to apologize to his son. That is something else I rarely see.
You're doing a great job Dad! I should have stopped to tell you on the way out but you where engrossed in a conversation with your son.
