Cartoon Boy: A Memory and a Lesson

While drinking coffee in the Cafe du Monde... I reflect for a moment on the
importance of manners, kindness, and the power of the word "hello."

When I was in first grade, there was this boy.  His parents had named him after a popular cartoon character of the time, and in looking back, it seems a terribly cruel thing that they did so.  I remember him so clearly...

I do not remember him because he was my first crush, or because he was smart, or because he was cute or funny or sweet or rich or any of those things.  I remember him because every day, he sat alone at lunch.  Every day, he played alone at recess.  And almost every day we walked by his desk in the classroom without so much as a nod or glance.

None of us even said "Hello" to him.

He was like a cartoon to us.  Sometimes we watched him and laughed.  Sometimes we simply turned him off and walked away.  He was not important to us, or significant in any way, and we were cruel.

Recently I have been visiting a Sim in hopes of being part of things there.  It's a lovely place... a beautiful build.  They have a lovely culture and history there.  It's a make believe world, subtle and lovely... and prideful.  I do not know why I continue to return, as when I go there, no one says hello... not even if I say it first.  And I feel like the Cartoon Boy there, eating my lunch alone.

Samanda sent me a note card today asking me to fill it out.  One of the questions was about my hopes and dreams for One Quarter French.  And I thought, suddenly and strangely, of Cartoon Boy. 

I want One Quarter French to be a place where people are greeted and welcome.  I invite you, when we open our doors... to say hello to someone you don't know.  To come in and sit down next to them and become part of their world.  Don't be the kid in the cafeteria who walks past the Cartoon Boy without a nod or glance and sits with the same group each day.
 
Instead, stop.  Set your tray across from his.  Sit down.  Breathe.  Smile.  Say hello.

I look back now and wonder... who was Cartoon Boy really, except a reflection of the inadequacies of human courtesy and kindness?

How hard is it really to say... "Hello?"