Lollipop Boy
I was working the supper shift at the restaurant the other day and served a young couple with a baby girl and a little boy. Now something you should know is that kids receive a free lollipop after their meal is finished…
The mother comes up to the counter with the bill, accompanied by her son of perhaps three years. As she’s working the debit machine, John – the cook and cashier – picks up the bin of lollipops and holds it out to the child.
“How’d you like a sucker?”
The boy emits a slow gasp of disbelief. Then –
“Mummy! A sucker!”
Tentatively, almost as though he thinks it’s a trick, he reaches his hand into the bin and selects one colour, discards it, and takes a different one. He looks up at John with incredulous eyes.
His mother smiles. “Say thank you, sweetie.”
“Thank you,” the boy breathes, before backing towards the family’s table. He turns to face his father.
“Daddy! I got a sucker!” He dances a brief dance of sheer delight. “I finished my dinner, and I got a sucker!”
His parents put his baby sister back into her carseat, and he continues to throw himself about, clutching his lollipop. When they leave, he’s still chortling with joy and exclaiming over it.
As the family goes out the door, he turns around and waves his lollipop to me…
So much joy from just one lollipop! This is definitely something I’ll remember for a long time.
