A Real Smile

Today was a long day. A very long, LONG day. It was difficult to keep my eyes open let alone smile. I was walking out of Animal Kingdom still dressed in my Dinosaur Institute costume and a little boy started walking next to me. He would look up at me every couple of seconds. Then he said, "hello." I just forced a Disney smile on my face and happily replied, "Hi, did you like the Animal Kingdom?" several seconds later he whispers, "yeah" "Did you ride all the rides?" *shakes head no* "Well, which one was your favorite that you rode?" After a very long pause, "Dinosaur ride with dark... and in... and lights" This brought joy to my soul. "I love that ride too!" He was talking about the ride I operated. His mother stepped into the conversation and began explaining the ride and how he loved it and they went two times in a row. It took a long time for this boy to reply to me in intelligible speech. It took a long time for him to understand what I was saying. His mother felt that he was keeping me and shouldn't talk to me because he was too slow. But he made my day. He went out of his way to say hello to me. Because he was nice enough to say hello I now have a real smile on my face not a forced Disney smile. Little kids are amazing like that. They seem to sense that you need a friend or at least need something. AND they're always there to help you out. Thank you young boy at Animal Kingdom!