The Pint Sized Emerson Anonymous

Sometimes, I find thought-provoking wisdom in the most unexpected places. From Wii error messages that state “Everything saved will be lost” to Hellman’s mayonnaise telling us to “Keep cool, never freeze,” I occasionally get my daily filling of enlightenment from inanimate objects.

But other times, sagacity comes from children.

I’ve actually never seen or read Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day, but I can’t imagine that my day could have been much better. A power surge during the night ended up resetting my alarm clock; I forgot to bring my lunch to school; My teachers piled on 3 essays and 4 tests due on the same day(I couldn’t believe this one wasn’t a conspiracy).

After classes, I was in the public library planning out the next issue of the school newspaper. A biased article had come up, and I was arguing with the editor about the slant of the piece. The conversation ended on bad terms, and I sat at my laptop, going through the rest of the content, trying not to think about the looming deadline or the fact that I might have just lost one of my most prolific colleagues.

Then a sound like a small gunshot made me jump. A small girl and her even smaller brother were over in the next aisle, staring...