Beware of Pookie Moments

Joan and I were having a lovely day with all my kids until we irretrievably ruined another person’s day.

It was a few years ago, summer, perfect – a whole day spent on the Noosa foreshore running back and forth from the beach, napping under the trees and eating now extinct $1 hamburgers.

Then a cute little girl walked towards us – she had tufts of pigtails, a hot pink and purple all-in-one swimsuit, a matching hat and a 1 or 2 year old toddle. I whispered to Joan to look. And she did. And we both grinned and pointed! Then my kids grinned and pointed!

The father glared and the mother said pointedly ‘Come on Pookie, lets go’, picked up Pookie and stalked off.

That’s when I noticed that Pookie had no arms.

I could hardly breathe. There are no words at that stage – I couldn’t very well say ‘Oh sorry, we thought she was cute before we saw that she had no arms!’

Pookie’s parents – who really had quite enough to deal with already – now thought that people were pointing at their little girl. And we were – but for all the right reasons.

Although I’d take back that day in a heartbeat, we talk about it all the time. Now we try to remember Pookie’s parents – who could have had a great day if they’d only given us the benefit of the doubt and assumed that we were pointing because Pookie was just so darn cute. And we try to give each other the benefit of the doubt– and the rest of the world too.