Sherman would have said: "Yes, I'm still eating and next I'm going to eat you." Children should be terrified not tolerated. Mike Geary a new kind of person On Sun, Jan 23, 2011 at 8:20 PM, David Ritchie <ritchierd@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>wrote: > Carrying General Sherman's biography and a styrofoam cup full of water, I > selected a table at the cheap Chinese lunch place. There was good light. I > settled into Sherman's youth, absently spooning food as I went. Because > it's an engrossing tale, I was very slow to notice the charming little > fellow standing right beside my table. His eyes did not quite reach rice > level. With the regal manner of one who has a right to demand anything of > anyone, and apparently curiosity to match, he asked, "Are you eating?" > Believing that such people deserve the truth, I said, "Yes, I am." He > smiled and walked on. I returned to reading. Within about a paragraph's > length, he was back, this time with a soda in his hand and a mother in tow. > He scrutinized me carefully. "Are you still eating?" Here I began to > wonder if he was implying criticism, but no, his small face and very large > eyes showed none. "Yes," I said, "I am still eating." He contemplated this > answer for a moment before deciding that it would suffice. His mother > followed him down the aisle, like a bridesmaid carrying a train. When I > finished lunch, my path to the exit passed close to his table. I stopped to > ask, "Are *you* eating?" He was not sure that people of my station should > be addressing people of his station so directly, but eventually he > responded, "Yes." I pushed my luck, "Is it good?" He thought for a while, > "Yes." I addressed his mother, "When I was his age, and out with my > parents, I'd talk with strangers." She smiled. What I didn't then tell her > is I once asked a woman why she had a face like Popeye. I believe her son > yet might. > > David Ritchie, > Portland, > Oregon------------------------------------------------------------------ > To change your Lit-Ideas settings (subscribe/unsub, vacation on/off, > digest on/off), visit www.andreas.com/faq-lit-ideas.html >