Filling in the Gaps

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I was walking down the elementary wing of our school and saw a little girl standing in front of the kindergarten door. She was pounding on the door with every ounce of strength in her body. She was crying uncontrollably and screaming at the top of her lungs.

I had been taught to make the most impact on students at a young age by having the conversations at their level, physically and emotionally.

I knelt to get face to face with the student and asked her one question. She looked right at me and without hesitation stuck up her middle finger directly at me.

Some of you just gasped. Others laughed. Others wondered what kind of family she came from. But how many of you thought, “What question did you ask?” That was the right response because the question I asked was “Which finger got slammed in the door?”

When people don’t know all the answers, they fill in the story gaps based on their experience. Often that experience in schools or with their superintendent was something less than positive. Therefore, the gaps tend to be filled with cynicism.