Had a conversation with a young man in the Taekwondo dressing room as we changed clothes before a workout the other day. He was about 7 and in fact he told me this was his age.
There is a certain way kids can be so mature at this age. He talked to me just like a little man even though I could tell from the markings on his belt he was new to the school and we had not met before. It is a shame that in a few hears the culture of our society will change him so that he will probaly not even notice the presence of an old guy like me. He is at an age where is mom is beautiful to him and his dad is a super human and it's ok for him to cry. In fact it is even expected that he cry. If I cry people say things like, "Good God man dry it up there, yes I know you need a hug but people are staring at us, there there," as if repeating the word there enough times will really make things better.
He is at an age where culture has not told him what shoes are cool, he don't see the people on one side of a difference in opinion as evil and feel that they should all be A-bombed on a deserted island some where, he has not had radio and tv tell him these shows and this music is good, must be because we have the same old shows and songs on demand 24/7, He has never been disappointed in himself because of in the way he acted regarding another human being and he has never had to work a weekend.
Later on he will change, be less confident like teenagers are sometimes, worried that they will make a mistake, hope they are not noticed while dying to be the star all at the same time and surly, knowing that he knows it all and that others especially the old can never possibly know anything of life. He will never talk to strangers in their underwear in a public locker room anymore.
So this mature little boy says to me:
"I'm 7, how old are you?"
I say," I'm 48, I'm 41 years older than you are, what do you think of that?"
"My dad is 64, my mom is 41,"
I say"Hmmm," and I think, lucky them.
