Sunday we hopped on a combi around noon from centro and met three girls on their way to the beach to sell trinkets. We've seen them on the beach before, so we briefly spoke to them. Later that evening, we decided to go into town for dinner. Once again they were on the combi after a days work. They smiled when they recognized us. I joked with them, played magic coin tricks and had them laughing in a short amount of time.
The girls are 13, 10 and 8 years old. I asked them if they were going to be on La Playa the next day and they said yes. "No mañana esquela? No." I've discovered over the years, children everywhere just want a little attention. There is nothing magic about it, just show them that you are genuinely interested in them, care about them and will spend time playing with them. That's really what they want.
Our granddaughters are like this: "children everywhere just want a little attention... That's all they really want." Giving them healthy attention is an aspect of love. I am discovering, however, that love has an enemy, and I see it more and more in kids and adults. iPhones & iPads clearly trump "playing with them." Yesterday I listened to a lecture on Psychotherapy and the roots of unhappiness, and the professor said researchers are discovering one of the problems with multi-tasking technology is that it causes people to become "disconnected." It was the first time I heard someone of science identify what I'm feeling about the whole business. In contrast, these three girls selling trinkets and engaging with you on the Combi, are much more mindful of their surroundings. If this encounter had taken place in Portland on MAX, it's likely each girl would have her head buried in texting friends on FB. They probably would not even know you were on the train. I think these "Digital natives" are losing the innocence you've caught so well in this photo, but I don't see any hope for them escaping its grasp.
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