My McDonald's Lollipop

Once upon a time there was a little, blonde, curly haired girl waiting in line at McDonald's to buy herself some chicken nuggets. This little girl was me and it just so turned out that my grandma had not given me enough money to pay for the order. So, nervous and embarrassed, I skedaddled my way back to Grandma, tripping over the foot of the soldier standing in line behind me, rushing for the few extra dollars. As I casually ran back to the cashier to hand over the rest of the money, I was told that the man next in line had paid for me. Being young and uncertain, I turned towards the soldier dressed up in his camo and attempted to hand him the cash, which he refused. After thanking him, I returned to Grandma and forgot of this moment from my childhood until approximately a year ago when Mrs. Kozuchowski asked us to describe one of our lollipop moments. She defined this as something someone does for a person out of kindness which leaves a positive and lasting impact. This soldier created one of mine. He is my earliest memory in life of a random act of generosity towards me. However, it wasn’t just the soldier who acted in favor of the young girl, but all the people waiting in line. They did not have to be patient, but they were, and maybe some of them had to make a conscious effort not to go find the kid’s parent and complain, but they didn’t and “petty, frustrating crap like this is exactly where the work of choosing comes in”. Similarly, the soldier who had been behind me in line did not have to pay for the little girl who tripped over him and ran way, but he did, and this choice of his created my very first lollipop moment.