The Fun Ones

It all started out innocently enough.  Steve and I were minding our own business at The Golden Corral, enjoying a nice lunch, when this family came and sat down beside of us.  We didn’t pay them much attention because we were discussing some things that needed to be dealt with.  We, naturally, smiled at them each time either they got up to refill their plates or we did.  When there are kids around, it’s hard for us to not be friendly and make some sort of comment.  That’s just the way we are.

Towards the end of our meal, though, we began to watch them more.  Mom, Dad, cute little baby girl who was too young to talk but her smile could sure light up the room, and...hmn.  How do I describe the son?  Cute?  Definitely!  Mischievous?  Mmn, almost.  He didn’t look like he was trying to get into too much trouble.  We made some general friendly comments to them and kind of connected with the little fella.

Steve decided he needed some chocolate soft-serve ice cream and asked if I wanted anything.  I said that those Gummy Bears did look good and maybe I’d get a bowl of them.  As we rose, I noticed the son had some cotton candy.  Of course I had to stop and chat about it.  He was a sweet guy but also, he was a kid.  Deciding to have some fun, I got him to look waaaay over yonder while I snuck his bag of candy.  Dad played along and Mom smiled as he turned back around.  At first, he didn’t notice the candy was gone so I did a little twirl of sorts, holding the bag behind my back, and when I was in midstream, then he noticed.  He grabbed it out of my clutches while we all laughed and then he proceeded to play tricks on us while we were gone to the dessert bar, such as sneaking my sweet tea.

When we got back to the table, I showed him my very own bag of blue cotton candy.  He tried my tricks on Steve, trying to get him to “look” at something while he snuck his lid that the waitress had brought while we were gone.  I twirled again, holding the bowl of Gummy Bears behind me, and stood “gazing” at what he was showing us until he noticed and took the candies.  He was so proud of himself for being so sneaky.  We talked with his Dad and exchanged info about how we had three grandsons and it turned out their son was the same age as our oldest.  Blah blah blah.  In between, he and his son translated for Mom while Little Miss Sunshine continued to smile at us each chance she got. We sat back down and enjoyed our dessert while talking with this family.   

Soon it was time for us to go so we started saying our goodbyes.  It was then that Dad told us his wife said to tell us that we were so sweet; that most people looked at folks like them like they were...trash.  Not good enough.  I’m not sure the exact term she used but the meaning was still the same.  They thanked us for having fun with their kids and that’s when I told them that that was what we were:  The Fun Ones.  It’s our little name for us that the boys and us go by, so much so that for Steve’s last birthday I had him a sticker made for his truck to let the world know.  It was Buy One Get One Free so I got one for Celine too!  Anyways, they laughed again and I reiterated that it was true:  we are the fun ones and if they looked out at the parking lot, they’d see proof.  Lily (Steve’s truck) just so happened to be parked right out the window there so we laughed again as the husband explained to the wife what was going on.  We said our goodbyes and left, thinking and chatting to one another about how nice that whole situation was.

This past week has been a rough one for our country.  Racial tensions were at a high peak.  Again.  As I recall now as the little boy was telling me “adios” and I told him I didn’t know much Spanish, other than “taco” (huge smile), “enchilada” (big wave of his belly as he recollected how much he himself loved enchiladas), and “adios” it makes my heart warm and sad at the same time.  Warm because aren’t we all just people, regardless of skin color or ethnic background?  Sad because we are all people with various skin colors, beliefs, and prejudices.  Won’t it great when That Day comes and none of this matters?  I think so too!  Even so, come Lord Jesus.  Amen?  Amen!