You Can't Eat Just One

Sometimes problems have a way of resolving themselves with little to no intervention on my part. Kyle, a first grader, entered my office crying just a little after lunch. I turned my head every so slightly to meet his watery eyes.

“I had a big sandwich,” he articulated through his sobs. “I ate it all. It was a plain dry sandwich and now I have a stomach ache!”

I shifted in my seat, barely leaning forward.

“Yesterday Derek karate chopped my nose, it is still puffed up. My lips are dried up. I’m a mess, that’s what someone told me.”

I gave a thoughtful glance to his nose but otherwise remained still.

“I wanna go home cause I miss my family. I told my family to buy me some medicine. I’ll just watch TV.

I blinked to acknowledge his dilemma.

“Now my nose is running too. I really think I should go home.” He paused slightly to be sure he included everything, “I sneeze sometimes too.”

As parted my lips to start my reply Kyle glanced at my desk spying a small bag of potato chips. This distracted his prior litany of ailments.

“Can I have some chips, please?”

A slight nod from me and he was on the bag of chips. Sasha, recovering from a brush burn on her knee on cot 1, was taking in this one sided conversation. She got up and came over to my desk eyeing the bag of chips and Kyle alternately.

“Can I have one too?”

Kyle offered her the bag and they both polished off the remaining chips. She then moved closer and stared at Kyle’s nose.

“His nose don’t look puffy to me Nurse,” she said. “It’s recess, we probably should get going.”

With a slight nod from me they were out of the door and headed for the playground. I rose from chair to stretch, stiff from sitting so still. Perhaps I’ll go on line and see about ordering a life size cardboard cut out of my self.