T.J's was packed at 5 pm. I had to park clear over at Longs. But even with the crowd, I felt jolly; I found a pretty bouquet that used a few staffs of wheat. When I stood in line, I caught the eye of a two-year-old.
There was something about her. We stared at each other for a few seconds. I smiled at her, and she looked back at me rather seriously for a toddler. She had Chinese features, and her long hair hung down the side of her cheek and added a womanly seriousness to her gaze. I thought to myself "I wonder who'll she become? I wonder if I will recognize her when she's famous and powerful?" This is not a common thought for me, in case you are wondering.
A few minutes later, I heard her singing. I turned to listen better. Her mom said something about "I guess I need to get some music lessons" and I think she was embarrassed that her child wasn't singing very well. I said to the mother that I love to hear singing.
At the checkout line, the cashier handed me my bouquet. "For you," he said romantically. "For me?" "And you say I don't care." "I know you do, but it's actions that count. Words are cheap." We cracked up the bagger. I noticed a strip of stickers on the table.
"Can I have one?"
The cashier looked surprised. Looking back on it, I suspect now that a customer had just left them there and he was about to toss them into the trash. He handed me the entire strip to take way, but I just peeled off one, and stuck it on my jacket. An American Flag.
"I'm not usually so patriotic," I told my cashier. "I guess we had to elect a black president." He laughed, but also nodded at the seriousness of what I just said. None of us are used it it yet. This actually happened very suddenly, didn't it?
The mother had overheard me. She patted her daughter. "She calls them Obama stickers." The girl saw my lapel. "Obama! Obama!" she shouted, throwing her hand into the air.
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