Monday, November 23, 2009

Happy Meal


My older two children were toddlers at the time. We chose the drive-thru of their favorite place for lunch. The box was colorful. A gift wrapped for each child. It was like Christmas. Inside there was food. But food was not the reason for their excitement. We sat expectant because we knew that toys waited. Time after time in this drive-thru each lunch brought a new toy.
But not this time. Faces shone. Little hands pulled out the food in haste and scattered fries and nuggets on the seat and dangling toward the floor. Toddler eyes called for back-up and entered every corner and nook of that box. But the box was empty. All the gift offered was food.
I looked at the drive-thru lady. She shrugged her shoulders. With a great deal of empathy she said, "We're all out of toys today." Grimace shadowed my countenance. I looked back at these little ones and bravely spoke the words. "I'm sorry guys, there is no toy today."
Tears trickled at first. And then like waters charging a dam, cries burst out and flooded the car. We sat there unhappy with our meal. We had to face the day with no toy.

No comments:

Post a Comment