[EDIT]
8D
I just ran into my little friend and her mother again, here at the library!
She recognized me and came right up to me while I was logging in, just now! X3 She gave me a hug and showed me some of the new drawings she's been working on!
HAPPY DAY, GUYS! 8D MY DAY IS NOW OFFICIALLY A HAPPY DAY!
...That's all.
[/EDIT]
No, the title doesn't lie.
I made a little girl's day, today. (And apparently her mother's as well.)
I had gone into work and been asked to clock on early because the training manager was running behind in what all she needed to get done so the store could be ready when we opened, and therefore, there would be no one to watch the dining room register in the event customers came in.
And I'm so glad I did this.
Right about 11:00 exactly, I was watching the dining room while one of my coworkers was restocking parfait ingredients behind me, when all of a sudden I hear a little voice squeak "Excuse me" from the other side of the counter. I walked to the edge of the counter, leaned over, and saw two skull-patterned scrunchied pigtails and a pair of wide brown eyes staring at me.
I thought for half a second I was looking at a tiny Asian-American version of Abby from NCIS.
This little girl, I would hazard a guess, was about five, and clearly had dressed herself that morning: sporting a bright purple SEQUINED winter coat, big yellow rainboots that went up past her knees, a floral-patterned skirt, and a graphic t-shirt sporting a cartoon version of Captain Jack Sparrow, with a glittery pink purse decorated with a Kyo Sohma patch that hung from her arm.
I was tickled pink by her clothes as it was.
Then she very boldly took out a stack of papers from behind her back and set them quite carefully on the counter for my coworker and I to see, and asked, "Would you pretty please like to buy one of my paintings?"
My coworker said, "That's nice, but we don't have any money," right around the same time the girl's mother came over.
And then I just about died. Why?
Because this little girl gave us the most impish grin and said, "Oh, don't even try fooling me, old lady! I KNOW you guys are rich, because everyone buys your food!"
I started giggling, I honestly couldn't help myself. Her mother smiled and very gently adjusted her one of her pigtails and said, "Now honey, they've said no, so don't pester."
At this, the girl shrugged, and then looked up at her mother and said, "Mommy, I can order my own food. Daddy wants me to practice." So indeed she ordered her own food and did it quite well. She insisted that she wanted to pay for it too, but her mother adjusted her other pigtail and said that it was the mommy's job to buy food for her little girl until her little girl was grown up.
Well, at one point during their order, I managed to ask the mother how much her daughter wanted to sell her paintings for. "Oh, just five cents," was what her mother told me.
So when they'd finished ordering and I'd taken care of the other customers in line behind them, I snuck back to the break room, pulled a nickel out of my purse, and went out and found them in the dining room so I could ask if the little girl still wanted to sell any of her paintings.
And I'm telling you guys what, her mother looked like she was about to cry, she was so happy. And this little girl--I swear, I don't think I've met a kid that can make me giggle so much--told her mother to "calm down, it's a business tran-zacki-shun."
So she spread out her paintings and told me what each one was:
"This one is 'No Butterflies Allowed', this one is 'No Painting Allowed', and this one is 'No Exploding Volcanoes Allowed.'"
Yes, she did indeed have a theme; apparently her class was being taught to read "No Smoking Allowed" signs and that sort of thing.
Well, her paintings are actually REALLY good for a five-year-old experimenting with watercolors, and the volcano was probably the best. I picked the "No Butterflies Allowed", though, and had her sign her name on it. (Which again, she did remarkably well for her age.)
The funniest part?
Her mother insisted on getting a picture of her daughter hugging me and holding up the painting, so she could post it on Facebook to show her friends.
And boy, you'd better bet that little girl can bear-hug! I got the wind knocked out of me!
So yes. I apparently made her day (and her mother's day!) and they made my day.
That's all for now, I'm out! Power to the people!
