Funny Little Story From the VA Stand Down: When You Feel Really Old

I got hit on by a 13 year old boy at the VA stand down. If I hadn't felt so damn old and so damn tired and sweaty right that moment, I might have been more amused and gratified to know I still "got it". LOL

His dad had dropped him off to do community service. He is preparing early for college. I was impressed when he told me he already had 300 hours logged (that's three gold presidential awards for people 14 and under). We chatted a little bit to pass the time between the waves of people. He asked me if I was married. He asked me if I had a boyfriend. A little while later, out of the blue, he asked me if I had every been kissed before (that was a little cute). I laughed, "yes, once or twice". He said, "What's it like?". And I am supposed to say WHAT exactly to some kid I never met before? I said, "Well, it was nice". Then we went back to work.

A little later, at quitting time, he was going to walk up front to wait for his dad to pick him up. I have to tell you that this stand down was in a bad part of Kansas City. The parts of the city you hear on the news at night. So, I decided that I should walk him to the front and stay there until his dad came to get him. (Frankly, I was a little shocked his dad had just dropped him off on the way to work without adult supervision. Maybe I am getting old and cynical, but even with all these volunteers and security around, it didn't seem like a good idea).

So, we are sitting out front under a tree. I was being a bad example smoking a cigarette. He starts to lecture me about giving them up (that was funny, too). He says, "You should just throw them away." Kids. I asked him what he was doing community service for. He said, "College. My dad wants me to." He asked why I was volunteering. I told him, "To serve those who have served us." A few more minutes of silence go by and, out of the blue, he turns to me and says, "Can I kiss you?"

I just about spit out my water!!! LOL

I said, "Nope." He said, "Okay. I just thought I'd ask." Wow was it hard not to laugh. I was thinking the kid must be desperate for his first kiss because I was hot, sweaty, hair falling out of my pony tail and, frankly, felt like road kill. Definitely not the catch of the season. Not to mention, during some earlier conversation he asked how old I was and when I said, "XX". He was like, "Wow. You're older." He was too young for me to give him tips about how to impress a woman.

His dad finally shows up. We chat for a few seconds and his dad asked me, "So, how was he today? I wanted him to volunteer so he could learn to be more outgoing and talk with people." LOL Well, I was hard pressed not to tell him how NOT outgoing his boy was. I just told him that he did okay. He thanked me for watching out for his son and they drove off.

And that was my funny little story of the day. The rest of the day was kind of mixed sad and inspiring. Price Waters Cooper had about 30 people volunteering (they all had t-shirts: 30,000 strong). The number of people who volunteered was impressive. The number of vets we served and their conditions was extremely heart wrenching.

I'll have more on that and what I learned while I was there later this weekend.

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