To the kid sitting next to me on the walkway, waiting for Old Faithful, with the freckles, thick rimmed glasses, ginger hair and Pokemon hat, who felt enough of a connection with a stranger, not in his age group, to share something about himself. Something he thought I could relate to– and I could. To the kid who took me so off guard that I could only think to respond with, “I- I’m sorry… that really sucks.

“Um, I like your Pokemon hat. It’s really cool.”

To that kid, I’d like to say here what I couldn’t think to say before:

As you grow older, you will hopefully begin to find that the people close to you start finding you much cooler than they do now, and with that, they will act as much better friends than the ones you have now. Not because you will change to fit what they perceive as “cool”, but because you will begin to filter out the people who don’t respect you, and replace them with the truly important people who like and respect you for who you like to be.

Lastly, try to avoid sneaking up on a sleeping buffalo. They don’t really care who you are, only that you are squishy, puny and have interrupted their nap.

Best regards,
The older chic who thought such a young kid appreciating Pokemon Blue was seriously cool.