Drawing More Than Just Conclusions

Our library has become an after-school hangout for kids and teens, which we encourage with programs and activities. One group of kids in particular have become regulars; they stop by every day after school to check out movies and play games on our computers, and they have a reputation for being loud and somewhat obnoxious.

We have a fairly lax dress-code at work, as well, so one day I’m shelving books while wearing a T-shirt with a video game character on it. Three kids from this group spot my shirt and immediately begin to follow me around asking questions: “Do you play [Game]?” “Which character’s your favorite?” “Can we download [Game] onto the library computers?” “Do you think [Game]’s scary?” I answer questions for a while, then tell the kids I have to go back to work.

The next day, when this group of kids comes in, the three kids who were full of questions the day before come up to me and hand me pieces of paper. Each one of them drew me pictures of the characters from that game as presents. I felt both touched and very guilty for complaining earlier to a co-worker about how obnoxious these kids were.

The pictures are now taped to my desk. And while these kids can still be annoying at times, I know their hearts are in the right place.