The Mouths of Babes

Your smile for the day. A friend related this story to me a while back. He was witness to this.

A young mother was traveling by train with her 5 year old son. This was back in the days when there were smoking and non-smoking cars, and she wisely chose a non-smoking car.

The train was quiet and peaceful with only the murmur of voices floating in the air and the clacking of the train wheels lulling all to sleep. In the midst of this, a woman sitting across from the lad lit up a cigarette.

The boy was sitting in the outside seat so had a clear view of this and knew that they were sitting in a non-smoking car. Further, his mom had explained why she chose this car, the dangers of smoking, and the value of rules. And let’s face it, at 5 years old one is surrounded by rules.

So he looked at this woman as she dragged on her cigarette, felt a rising outrage at this offense. He glared at her as she turned her head and looked at him. “Well”, he said, “I guess it’s ok for me to pick my nose!”

Silence. A mother aghast and proud. A smoking woman quietly extinguishing the cigarette.

Applause.