Jack\u00a0wanted that bag of cookies.\u00a0<\/p>\n
His mom said,<\/p>\n
“Jack, I told you, we need to eat our breakfast first.”<\/p>\n
\u00a0He\u00a0wailed and I\u00a0mean it was loud,<\/em>\u00a0using\u00a0the full extent of his lung power,<\/p>\n “Noooooo I don’t wanna wait.\u00a0 It’s too hard!”<\/em><\/p>\n \u00a0In that small cafe, it doesn’t take much wailing to fill the room.<\/p>\n Jack appeared to be four or five\u00a0years old.\u00a0 His mother looked at the few of us gathered in the cafe early one morning last week and shrugged apologetically.\u00a0<\/p>\n I stood at the counter, placing my coffee order.\u00a0 A young man waiting near me said,\u00a0<\/p>\n “Poor little guy.”<\/p>\n I nodded and added,<\/p>\n “I agree with Jack. Waiting is too hard.”<\/em><\/p>\n The mother heard us and said,<\/p>\n “I shouldn’t have bought the cookies ’til we finished our eggs.”\u00a0<\/p>\n But at this little cafe\/bakery,\u00a0decked out to resemble a French bistro, when you place your order, you pay for everything at once, so Jack knew that\u00a0cellophane bag of treats was waiting.\u00a0 Who could blame him for focusing on the treat?\u00a0\u00a0Focusing on the treat is about as universal an emotion as I can think of.\u00a0<\/p>\n All of a sudden it got\u00a0quiet in there.\u00a0 Jack had stopped yelling long enough to say to his mom,\u00a0<\/p>\n “I am serious!”<\/em><\/p>\n The\u00a0man and I, waiting for our orders at the counter, both broke into laughter at that, which probably didn’t help.\u00a0<\/p>\n Jack’s mom\u00a0looked at us and smiled and over his now-renewed protests,\u00a0she \u00a0said,<\/p>\n “He’s having a bad day.”<\/p>\n The\u00a0man said to me,<\/p>\n “I can relate.”<\/p>\n I\u00a0 walked past Jack, carrying my coffee and newspaper, and patted him on\u00a0the head.\u00a0<\/p>\n He hollered some more and then gave it up and ate his scrambled eggs and toast.\u00a0<\/p>\n As\u00a0Jack and his mom left, he asked her,<\/p>\n “Can I have a hug?”<\/p>\n She picked him up, and with his long growing-boy legs dangling, she carried him out,\u00a0as he clutched\u00a0that bag of meringues tightly.\u00a0 He gave me a\u00a0smile as they left.<\/p>\n I’ve been\u00a0thinking about Jack and his bad day ever since.\u00a0\u00a0 I envy him.\u00a0 It would be nice if once in a while wailing out loud in public\u00a0was\u00a0considered acceptable behavior for adults.\u00a0 But since it’s not, at least we still have cookies.<\/p>\n