Creepy...
You'll never believe what just happened...
Eric and I were eating lunch in front of the TV when we heard someone open the front screen door. I guessed it must be someone delivering a flyer and watched through the window to see them leave. To our great surprise, the solid front door opened next and a young African-American boy of about 8 or 9 years poked his head in and asked, "is anybody here?" I don't remember if we answered him or not - it wasn't entirely necessary since he was now looking right at us. Next he asked, "do you have anything for me to drink?" Too shocked to say anything, I handed him a bottle of water. He kissed it and left without saying "thank you." By the time he was out of sight, he still hadn't opened the bottle. I closed and locked the door behind him.
On one hand, it was my natural instinct to give him the water - that's what Jesus would do, right? (Okay, after he talked to the boy about living water.) On the other hand, I just taught this kid that it is not only acceptable but profitable for him to walk right into people's houses without knocking, which is likely to get him into serious trouble. More specifically, I taught him that it's a good idea to walk right into my house. The problem here is that I usually leave the door unlocked when I am home so my students can come in without interrupting lessons already in progress. Since I am always expecting someone, when I hear the door open, I don't even bother to look to see who it is. At least, I haven't in the past - I suspect I will now.
Eric and I were eating lunch in front of the TV when we heard someone open the front screen door. I guessed it must be someone delivering a flyer and watched through the window to see them leave. To our great surprise, the solid front door opened next and a young African-American boy of about 8 or 9 years poked his head in and asked, "is anybody here?" I don't remember if we answered him or not - it wasn't entirely necessary since he was now looking right at us. Next he asked, "do you have anything for me to drink?" Too shocked to say anything, I handed him a bottle of water. He kissed it and left without saying "thank you." By the time he was out of sight, he still hadn't opened the bottle. I closed and locked the door behind him.
On one hand, it was my natural instinct to give him the water - that's what Jesus would do, right? (Okay, after he talked to the boy about living water.) On the other hand, I just taught this kid that it is not only acceptable but profitable for him to walk right into people's houses without knocking, which is likely to get him into serious trouble. More specifically, I taught him that it's a good idea to walk right into my house. The problem here is that I usually leave the door unlocked when I am home so my students can come in without interrupting lessons already in progress. Since I am always expecting someone, when I hear the door open, I don't even bother to look to see who it is. At least, I haven't in the past - I suspect I will now.
posted by DenverSop @ 2:11 PM
2 Comments:
At 4/22/2007 9:01 PM,
Anonymous said…
Yikes! Here's hoping that it really was a legit visit from Christ in the form of a thirsty child, one so struck by your automatic gift that he couldn't drink it right away.
When I was in Brazil, I quickly found that the people I had to watch the most in terms of who could be a pickpocket weren't the adults... the children did the dirty work for them because nobody would want to harm a child. The closest by far that I came to losing my wallet in Sao Paulo was at a subway station to none other than a six year old. Six!!!
Yet, asking for something as basic as a drink and then voluntarily leaving, kissing the bottle but not drinking while in your sight doesn't add up with anything I experienced in Brazil. Had he been up to no good, he wouldn't have given up voluntarily until he'd realized that he was getting nowhere with you (and either left or escalated the matter with a weapon). Had he been put up to the deed by someone else, he might have accepted the gift, but, as soon as he was out of your home, he would have trashed it as it wasn't what he needed... and if he didn't want abuse, time's wasting. When parentally-exploited money-begging children that I saw were offered food, drink, or clothing instead, they either refused the gift or threw it into the street. Certainly the last thing that an exploited child will hold onto, whether sent by a homeless parent or a street gang, is water!
Have you called the police? I think you should. As the child's behavior doesn't fit the bill of dangerous children that I've seen, it sounds more like a runaway child to me. Unless you live within walking distance of places where homeless people squat, that seems pretty likely. A description and a time for the encounter could be valuable info for getting him home. If I'm wrong and he is a vagrant, they'll still have a description on file and a pattern to follow if he does in fact steal from you or another.
At 4/23/2007 9:41 PM,
Anonymous said…
I can clearly imagine my late mother (i.e., Seleta's "Grandma Ruth") asking in disgust, "Where are that boy's parents?!"
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