Cliche
Since: Dec, 1969
Total posts: 2

So I'm on the subway today and next to me are a woman and a girl about eight years old. They are having an argument and eventually the mother starts screeching about some schoolwork. Apparently the teacher had forgotten to give the girl something she needed for her homework for the next day. The girl's big crime was that she had not REMINDED the teacher to give her the paper or whatever it was. The mother's reaction was Disproportionate Retribution, but what I really want to talk about is what followed.
After predicting the end of the girl's academic career and absolutely refusing to call another parent and get a copy of the paper, the mother sits in a chair and literally sulks. The girl sits too and looks thoughtful. After a while, she starts talking about the one and the other thing that happened in school today. She takes the first step for a reconciliation while an adult is sitting right next to her. It was amazing how she persevered and how she tried to sound cheerful while she just had an upsetting argument with her mum. The woman was giving short answers at first, but eventually relaxed and by the time I've reached my destination she was even stroking the girl's hair.
Of course after that, the girl judged that she could bring the homework subject up again, so her mother started yelling again. Oh well.
"Why don't you write books people can read?"-Nora Joyce, to her husband James