25 Apr End of Story.
As Emma and I walked out of the grocery store, she paused and pointed toward her blue and pink mismatched socks.
“That girl standing by the flowers looked at my socks,” she said.
Curiously, I asked, “And then what happened?”
Emma shrugged casually, “That was it.”
We loaded our groceries into the car and set off for home. Along the way, Emma told me that her science teacher was given a snake by a student who was moving out of state. She hoped her teacher would keep the snake in the classroom so that she could see it every day. She listed the songs her class was rehearsing for their spring concert. She said that no one knew the words of one of the songs and the choir teacher would give them lollipops if they learned the words before the next class. Emma asked what we were having for dinner and expressed her dismay that we would be having fish and salad. She had been hoping for spaghetti.
The subject of the socks didn’t come up again.
As I sliced tomatoes for the salad, I thought about how much I liked that Emma didn’t add more to the story. There was no analyzing the meaning behind the girl’s look. There were no assumptions that the girl looking at her socks had negative thoughts about them. There were no interpretations at all.
So often we add to the story. We continue with details that are negative. We jump to conclusions and assume the thoughts and intentions of others in ways that often are unhelpful.
How wise it is to see things only as how they are.
There was a girl at the grocery store who looked at my socks.
End of story.