Once upon a time, I was short. Like, short in a way that’s appropriate for a 6 year old.
I was short enough for the roaming geese and ducks of a local park to look me straight in the eye and challenge me to a dual of wing flapping for the bread my chubby hands held dearly. Little did they know that this little chubby girl version of Bruce Lee (What? You didn’t know? See here.)
Clasping my dad’s hand as he helped me venture down the grassy hill (never mind all the duck diarrhea that we stepped on to get there) towards the birds with my whole-wheat offering, I felt the excitement growing as we got closer towards the flocks of ducks and geese that seemed, at the time, to promise a little kid a wonderful childhood memory in the making.
Now, I don’t know how they did it in the duck/geese ‘hood, but dang, you’d think they’d ask politely instead of straight up rob an innocent kid of her bread offering to them.
ROBBED, I tell you.
I must have been moving too slow in making my offer to them or something because one brown duck about my height not only impatiently snatched the bread from my hand but thought it’d be funny to reach out it’s snarling beak (it was SNARLING I tell you!) and bite my cheek as well. Now, I know I had a bit of a chubby face back then but just cuz a kid’s face looks like Wonder Bread goodness with all that face dough, doesn’t mean you go biting them for fun. That’s just rude.
I could hear still hear that duck waddling away and laughing “SUCKA!!!! I got your bread...AND YO FACE!”
I cried that hiccupping ugly-cry we all get, but stood my ground, sans my whole-wheat offering, among all the laughing ducks.
Key life lesson to remember from this random post? I STOOD MY GROUND.
Even after they took my bread and bit my cheek. Be it with a duck or anything else in life, I continue to learn how to stand my ground.
It's not easy but as everyday passes, I hope you do, too.
I was short enough for the roaming geese and ducks of a local park to look me straight in the eye and challenge me to a dual of wing flapping for the bread my chubby hands held dearly. Little did they know that this little chubby girl version of Bruce Lee (What? You didn’t know? See here.)
Clasping my dad’s hand as he helped me venture down the grassy hill (never mind all the duck diarrhea that we stepped on to get there) towards the birds with my whole-wheat offering, I felt the excitement growing as we got closer towards the flocks of ducks and geese that seemed, at the time, to promise a little kid a wonderful childhood memory in the making.
Now, I don’t know how they did it in the duck/geese ‘hood, but dang, you’d think they’d ask politely instead of straight up rob an innocent kid of her bread offering to them.
ROBBED, I tell you.
I must have been moving too slow in making my offer to them or something because one brown duck about my height not only impatiently snatched the bread from my hand but thought it’d be funny to reach out it’s snarling beak (it was SNARLING I tell you!) and bite my cheek as well. Now, I know I had a bit of a chubby face back then but just cuz a kid’s face looks like Wonder Bread goodness with all that face dough, doesn’t mean you go biting them for fun. That’s just rude.
I could hear still hear that duck waddling away and laughing “SUCKA!!!! I got your bread...AND YO FACE!”
I cried that hiccupping ugly-cry we all get, but stood my ground, sans my whole-wheat offering, among all the laughing ducks.
Key life lesson to remember from this random post? I STOOD MY GROUND.
Even after they took my bread and bit my cheek. Be it with a duck or anything else in life, I continue to learn how to stand my ground.
It's not easy but as everyday passes, I hope you do, too.