SITTING IN THE STALL, I OVERHEARD THE FATHER ——-

THIS GENERATION DOES PRODUCE GOOD FATHERS

I work at a railroad museum and it has (old, but nice) restrooms for visitors that are separate from the one’s we use. When the need arises, I usually use a small visitor restroom close to our washroom because its better than ours. I was using the stall in my favorite restroom when the restroom door opened and someone entered. By their voices, I concluded it was a father and his young son. One of them shook the stall door followed by the father’s voice gently admonishing the son to not do that again. The son then asked if someone was in there, using a voice that indicated to me that questions were common by the son. The father replied with a soft voiced explanation of what is expected of the son in this situation. The son then asked of his father:”Why are we in the ladies bathroom?”. The father pointed out that the ladies bathroom does not have urinals like this one. What followed was a short question and answer discourse that went something like this:”Do you have to pee?, “yes”, “Let me do it,Daddy”, “OK”, “Are you tall enough?”, “no”, “I’ll lift you”. After a moment:”Doing alright?”, “Yes,I’m done”. Another moment and:”I know how to do it! Let me do it!”, “OK’. The father reminded the son that we:”Wash our hands after using the bathroom”. The father proceeded to explain how to get the soap dispenser to give up the soap and they washed up and left.

As the scenario played out I did not utter a sound. I was like the proverbial fly on the wall.  At first, my reaction was; ‘That’s cute”. But after further thought, I realized I had been given a rare opportunity to listen to a young father giving his son instruction about a piece of life. The father was not condescending or impatient with his son and his voice seemed loving and gentle towards his son. I was impressed! I am also heartened by what I overheard. We are daily dipped in the sewerage that is most of the news we hear about the various ills of our society and I yearn to hear something positive once in a while. That is why I am heartened by overhearing this small slice of life.