Thursday, July 19, 2012

Neighborhood Kids

This kid I've seen before came in with two I haven't. They rushed in, shouting at each and about the pop they wanted to buy. The kid I knew is a smallish or young white boy and the two boys I didn't were bigger Assyrians. The little one kept picking up stuff (pop, hot chips, candy) the others wanted him to buy. They came up three times and the first two times the little guy didn't have enough money. The other two were laughing and talking (in Assyrian) behind him, and he kept looking back at them, with some stress.
When I did ring him up, he would say he didn't want his change because he didn't need it. I urged him to take it, because I assumed he was only saying that to impress them.
It made me sad to see what I was seeing. The little white boy had been in a similar situation with an older kid I've seen before. I felt like the little boy was being taken advantage of, and that he didn't seem to know who his real friends were. (Maybe he doesn't have any real friends.)
 I told all this to the cop I was ringing up. And I mentioned that I usually know what kids belong to what parents. But that little guy, I've never seen his parents. And I mentioned other things to the cop that would illustrate my keen detective skills.
After I rung her up, she went and talked to the group of boys. They seemed only sort-of interested.

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