An occasion / Sierra Ehrman
I used to work at Hollywood Video here in town. I had been working there since last May. I don't know if any of you are familiar with how Hollywood sets out their videos, but we have a section for each category, including drama, action, and kids. I was walking down the action aisle when I noticed a little girl, probably five or six years old, looking in the aisle and reading the back of a cover. I smiled a little bit, thinking I should go point her in the right direction, to the kids section. I walked over and asked, "Hi sweetie, do you want me to show you where the movies you will like are at?" She looked back up at me with a question in her eyes and replied, "Are you mocking me?"
Normally, I would just have laughed at her thought she was a cute little girl using a word that she had over heard her parents use. But the look in her eyes was so serious, like she was really questioning me. For those of you who don't know, the word mocking roughly means, to treat with ridicule. I don't really hear that word very often so it kind of took me back for a second, especially because of who was using it.
I remember when I was about nine years old, I was watching TV with my mom. A commercial for some kind of battery-operated toy was on, and at the end of the commercial, it said, "Batteries not included." I was so confused. I had no idea what "included" meant. I looked at my mom and asked her, and she explained. I thought I understood until I heard the word "not" before it. What the heck does "not included" mean then?! When I think back about that night on the couch, it makes me feel quite stupid knowing that girls now-a-days, like the little one in Hollywood Video, now know words like "mocking".
When I see and hear things like that, it makes me start to wonder about my own children. Like, what are they going to be thinking, wearing, and saying at the age of five or six? I wonder, is some other 19 or 20 year old girl going to be amazed at something my little girl says in a movie store ten years down the road? I can see it now, my little girl walking down the action section, wearing high heels, makeup, and her nails done, asking one of the clerks, "Excuse me, the vast majority of your selection seems to be action, would you be so kind as to point me in the direction of drama?" How funny would that be. I can just imagine the look on that clerks face, just as mine was.
I enjoyed my look back into my past and into my future because of something someone said. It's funny how things, like that little girl's comment to me, can really make you step back and think. Think about life, your past, your present, and your future. It's all kind of a blur and it goes by so fast, but just listen to something interesting, and step back, and let your mind take you to all kinds of different places!
Normally, I would just have laughed at her thought she was a cute little girl using a word that she had over heard her parents use. But the look in her eyes was so serious, like she was really questioning me. For those of you who don't know, the word mocking roughly means, to treat with ridicule. I don't really hear that word very often so it kind of took me back for a second, especially because of who was using it.
I remember when I was about nine years old, I was watching TV with my mom. A commercial for some kind of battery-operated toy was on, and at the end of the commercial, it said, "Batteries not included." I was so confused. I had no idea what "included" meant. I looked at my mom and asked her, and she explained. I thought I understood until I heard the word "not" before it. What the heck does "not included" mean then?! When I think back about that night on the couch, it makes me feel quite stupid knowing that girls now-a-days, like the little one in Hollywood Video, now know words like "mocking".
When I see and hear things like that, it makes me start to wonder about my own children. Like, what are they going to be thinking, wearing, and saying at the age of five or six? I wonder, is some other 19 or 20 year old girl going to be amazed at something my little girl says in a movie store ten years down the road? I can see it now, my little girl walking down the action section, wearing high heels, makeup, and her nails done, asking one of the clerks, "Excuse me, the vast majority of your selection seems to be action, would you be so kind as to point me in the direction of drama?" How funny would that be. I can just imagine the look on that clerks face, just as mine was.
I enjoyed my look back into my past and into my future because of something someone said. It's funny how things, like that little girl's comment to me, can really make you step back and think. Think about life, your past, your present, and your future. It's all kind of a blur and it goes by so fast, but just listen to something interesting, and step back, and let your mind take you to all kinds of different places!
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