A Small Gift

The other day one of my co-workers brought his wife and children into the office for a visit. The children were friendly and well-behaved. They were excited to visit their dad at his office.

As they were leaving, my co-worker and his wife began to chat with another adult in the room. I sat at my desk and listened quietly. One of the little boys walked up to my desk, and while pointing to a bright green box, asked "What's that?"

I told him it was Scotch tape. I picked up the box to open it, but decided not to because I have plenty of tape left in the dispenser. I said "It looks like this, only it's in the box." I made sure he could get a good look at the tape in the dispenser.

The other adults wrapped up their conversation, and the family began to walk out of the office. A pair of little eyes were still fixed on my tape dispenser. So ... as soon as mom and dad turned their backs, I snatched off a piece of tape, and handed it to my new friend. I waited until the parents weren't looking because I thought they might say something like, "You don't need that" or "Tape isn't a toy." I sort of expected the little boy himself to look at me like I was crazy, or ask "What am I supposed to do with that?"

Instead, he reached for it eagerly, and once he had it, ran to catch up with his family.

I was happy, and he was happy, all over a piece of Scotch tape. Go figure.