(I work in a video game store in a shopping centre, and am currently working floor, which means I go around and talk to customers about what games they might be interested in. A family of two boys, a little girl, their parents, and their grandmother come in. The two boys argue for a while over which game to buy, and for the most part I help them out and chat to them. After a while, I’m standing next to the checkout while they purchase their new games. The little sister, who can’t be more than five, comes up to me.)

Little Girl: “Are you a customer?”

Me: “No, I work here.”

Little Girl: “You work here? Why?”

Me: “Well, I get the money, and I like to talk about video games!”

Little Girl: *pauses, looking very confused* “Why?”

Me: *at this point, I am trying not to smile* “Because I like games.”

Little Girl: “You like games?”

Me: “Yep!”

Little Girl: “Do you like Star Wars games?”

Me: “I do, yeah!”

Little Girl: *at this point she gets a shocked look* “You like Star Wars?”

Me: “Yeah!” *almost laughing at this point*

Little Girl: *pauses again, looking rather disapproving* “Are you a boy?”

(This makes me laugh, as I do have short hair and often wear a binder for the support at work.)

Me: “No, I’m a girl.”

(I also spot my coworker, who has also gone bright red in the face laughing at the conversation.)

Little Girl: “No, that can’t be right! Only boys like Star Wars!”

Me: *still laughing* “No, that’s not true! Boys and girls can like Star Wars!”

(It went back and forth like this while the checkout went. I did try to convince her that “Star Wars” can be for everyone, but she didn’t seem to have any of it! Her grandmother, who was also laughing, explained to me that her two older brothers often go on about “Star Wars” so she gets fed up with it! And the “Are you a boy?” question has become a running gag at work whenever someone mentions “Star Wars” or anything else typically for a gender!)

This story is part of the Star Wars Day: May The Fourth roundup!

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I work with Japanese toddlers, who, like toddlers the world over, say the cutest things, especially when imitating the adults in their lives.

While putting on her shoes one day, one of the three-year-old girls — who hasn’t yet started speaking English unprompted — said to me in Japanese, “I have to go home now, sensei, but it will be okay; don’t cry!” I had to smother my laughter until she had gone.

(My cousin likes to force her five-year-old son to conform to some high standard of a perfect little boy like you’d see in a magazine and doesn’t allow him to actually act like a small child. We like to instill a little whimsy in him whenever she’s not around. We’re currently taking him to a street fair, and my sister finds a dandelion that’s turned to puff.)

Sister: “Look! If you see a dandelion that looks like that, you can make a wish and blow on it, and it’ll carry your wish into the sky!”

(He excitedly blows on it ,and we continue walking. He sees the prettiest fall leaf — the first of the season — on the sidewalk, and excitedly picks it up.)

Cousin: “My wish came true!”

(He had a smile on his face for the rest of the day.)

My mother’s uncle lost the ability to walk as a child due to Polio. When I was very young, all my cousins and I loved spending time with Uncle Bob and simply accepted that his legs were different than ours.

One day while out shopping with my mother, I spotted another shopper who had a wheelchair and very excitedly started tugging on my mum’s hand and pointing. She braced herself for my childhood wisdom.

I jumped up and down and practically shouted in excitement, “MUMMY! He’s got legs like Uncle Bob’s!”

My mum still tells this story many years later; she said the man’s grin could have lit up the world.

(I’m going for a walk on our local sea wall. I see a woman and a perhaps seven- or eight-year-old girl coming toward me. As they pass, I hear the little girl say happily:)

Girl: “Now that I know that unicorns are real, there’s all sorts of things I can believe in!”