A Good Hair Day

Earphones plugged in; I boarded the bus and headed back home. Just had to tie my hair up into a pony tail today. Looking out of the window; I was enjoying the magic the music was weaving into my soul when I felt a gentle tug on my pony; a slight pull. I turned to see what was it that had dared to touch my beautiful locks. What I saw surprised me. It was a cute little girl; maybe 5 or 6 years old. She looked at me and gave me the widest smile anyone's ever given me. Her innocence was pure as anything could possibly be. How could I not reply back with a smile? As the little child continued playing with my hair, her mother smiled at me and said: “Warum müssen Sie lange Haare haben?" (Why must you have long hair?) I chuckled: “Denn ich liebe es!" (Because I love it!) She said to me: “Nein, nein, bitte schneiden Sie Ihr Haar!" (No, no.. Please cut your hair). The little girl was observant of our conversation. Visibly upset by her mother's request, she was prompt with her reply: “Nein Ma, es ist wunderbar!" (No Mother, it is wonderful!). I was touched by the little girl's words. “Ich werde nicht meine Haare schneiden!", (I will not cut my hair!) I said to her.

She patted me on the head like I was her pet dog, held her mother's hand and got down. As the bus moved farther away, I was left with an image of her smile: wider than before, and a loud “Tschuss!" (Bye). I waved gleefully; hoping that I would see the little angel again; the little angel who bore a staunch testament to the fact that mutual respect and kindness are omnipresent. They are the laws of Nature that all living creatures are born compliant to. But mankind defies these laws to create and perpetrate hatred and racism, unbeknownst to the fact that these will destroy their creators with far lesser effort than what their creation necessitated.