A SAVING GRACE

[schlomo]

A Saving Grace

My walk in Waikiki yesterday was initially unpleasant. As I was passing by a young well-groomed man chatting on his cell, he suddenly exploded with these vengeful words: “if he’s not loyal to me, “f---k him”, I won’t be loyal to him.” After a while, I noticed a grubby middle-aged man who repeatedly screamed at his unleashed dog: “f---k you.” A couple of minutes later, a disoriented woman muttered a one-word curse directed at no one in particular: “f---k.”

While I was not dismayed at hearing these random F-bombs coming so close together, I did become a bit dispirited. But near the end of my walk, I experienced a redeeming moment.

A block ahead of me, I spied an impish toddler who smiled at me. As I got closer, she continued to grin and then four or five times said “hi” to me, blotting out my run-ins with the F-word.  Although the Aloha Spirit was dimmed in the adults that I came across yesterday on my walk, it gratefully glowed in the little child.