Friday, April 21, 2006

Amish kid at the Wright City rest stop

I was traveling to St. Louis two weekends ago to see the family and take in a Blues game, among other things, when I stopped in Wright City, Missouri (about 40 miles outside of STL) to relieve myself. (I'd been hitting the Rooster Booster pretty hard, and had had about 72 ounces over the course of the trip.)

I was approaching the restroom when I saw a kid proceed inside. He was probably ten and he was wearing what you might call very traditional garb. (Later, I saw that he met up who I assumed to be his mother and sister. They wore bonnets and long dresses. I was guessing the family was Amish or Quaker.)

So I head inside and do my thing. He's also at a urinal, and he's occasionally staring over at me (which I don't mind; as long as it isn't constant staring, I'll give kids a free pass). He finishes a bit before me and heads over to the sinks. He stops and seems befuddled.

It's one of those sinks where you stick your hands under and it lathers, rinses, and dries all at once. At this point, I'm just assuming he comes from a farm somewhere that doesn't have the newest microwave or high-speed internet access. But that's besides the point. If I hadn't seen this type of sink at the KSU Student Union before, and I was only ten, I'd be just as confused.

So I made my way to the sink and proceeded to use it like I finally learned how to (it took me a couple times). I'm not the type to call things "cute," but let's say as he proceeded to imitate me, it was an amusing situation. He watched my every move; I pretended I didn't see him, though I did. From soap to dry, he followed my lead. I left before he did, as he was still finishing up drying. I caught sight of the family as I left the rest stop to get back on the highway.

Every once in a while, a little incident like that brightens your day and give you a good story to tell.

1 comment:

Unknown said...

is it odd that a weird encounter with a ten year old that stares at you in the bathroom brightens your day? I didn't think so either.