Overheard at the coffee shop.....

I usually stop at a Dunkin Donuts on my way to work that could be considered “rough” by some standards. Given it’s location and proximity to the highway, and the history of the location in general – there’s usually some “interesting” clientele that I get to see on my daily excursions.

There’s often a table of older gentleman who clearly get together regularly and hang out and shoot the breeze. Today, they weren’t there – but there was one older gentleman, and two children. I don’t think that they knew him before this morning; their mother was standing in line at the time and kids will often just hang back and gravitate to a certain area that seems “safe”. Given the fact that he was on older gentleman and alone – they probably figured this was a good option. They were I’m guessing 7 & 9, or maybe 8 & 10 – either way, clearly young enough to be able to still have impressionable and open minds. As I noticed them, I also noticed a police officer walk by me whistling some random tune that must’ve been stuck in his head from whenever.

The line was unusually long today – I normally prefer this rougher shop because it’s well worth the efficiency of the staff that work there. But today, the line was back towards the table where the gentleman and the two children were; and I was able to overhear a conversation that transpired between them. The police officer walked by, and the older of the two kids said “Hey, did you see that cop?”. The older gentleman sternly corrected him and said “That’s a police officer. And you should always think of him as your friend, he can help you if you need him – if someone is bothering you or does something wrong”. The younger child said “but everyone calls them cops, that’s what they are, isn’t it?” to which the gentleman replied “that’s not a very respectable thing to call them. Do you know why they were called ‘cops’ or ‘copper”? Because back when I was a kid, the policemen wore big copper buttons on their uniforms. They were big and shiny and you could see them coming a mile away with the sun shining on them as they would walk down the street”. The younger child asked “Do they still wear copper buttons?” to which the gentleman replied “No, I’m pretty sure they don’t but either way it doesn’t matter. It’s just not nice”. He wasn’t harsh to them – he just said it like it was. But the look on their faces was one of just taking in everything he said as if it was gospel. Funny thing is, he sort of struck me as the kind of man who probably had been chased a time or two in his life by the police. Purely a superficial judgment, of course.

It’s not often you get to see moments of kindness and conversation between the generations today. Especially in strangers. Our lives are so fast paced, so quick moving – often the older generations are overlooked. And society’s view towards family and adults in general is so faded now....there is no “respect to our elders” that is preached let alone practiced. So many children today lack the basic respect of listening to “their elders”, even at such young ages as these kids I saw today. So many children today have a lack of respect for themselves – let alone others.

I hope the conversation that transpired between that gentleman and those kids will have a positive impact on them – no matter how slight it may be.
It sure made me smile.