Have you ever felt bad for an ant?!

I am on lunch right now. I was in the cafeteria, but now I am not. Ahhhh the relocations that result from NOISE! In the long-term, I truly do wish for the energy of an elementary student. I admire their enthusiasm for EVERYTHING and I would like to learn some of their ever-lasting energy tricks :) However, in the short-term today, I wished for a little bit of peace before my afternoon students demonstrated their “it’s THURSDAY!” excitement! And so, I left the cafeteria and started to walk to my classroom to finish my lunch.

On my way there, I noticed three tiny children in one very large courtyard. All three of them were on their hands and knees, with their mouths close to the ground, screaming at the TOP of their lungs (exaggerate this activity….and then consider it true). Since I saw no one on duty nearby, I stopped to ask them the reason for their screaming. Were they okay? Was this some new game I didn’t know about?

It turns out, they were yelling at an ant. ONE LITTLE ANT. Now, I am not a big fan of ants, but after coming from the noisy cafeteria I very much sympathized with the poor thing. And so, I told them a very big lie. I told them that the ant had lost his parents and he needed to listen for the sound of his parents singing, so he could find them and be happy. Of course, it is impossible for the ant to find his family if he can’t hear their song. “Ohhhhhh,” they gasped and they hurried off to play elsewhere.

Hmmmmm…it is amazing what kind of a hero you can be when you come from the right place :)