The other day when I took Shortcake down the street to play at the park there were some ladies having their breakfast at the usual Indian hour of about 11 o'clock. They are ladies who work sweeping the streets in our neighborhood, by hand with a little straw broom. They wanted to see S and called her over. She went right over to them and played catch with each one, throwing her little Finding Nemo ball to each woman, one by one. They were all laughing and thought it was so funny.She then proceeded to go around and shake hands with each of them. Then she wanted to sit with them, so they laid out a little towel for her to sit on, really sweet of them.
As we were leaving she turned and waved to each of them and blew kisses in a really dramatic way. Which of course elicited many high-pitched "oohs and ahhs." She had them eating out of her hand :)
In India, street sweepers are considered low caste and the profession is viewed as one of the most undesirable, since Indian streets are very not clean. I love how a small child recognizes them as what they truly are, people, just like you and me. I love that she made their day by stopping to acknowledge them and be friendly to them. Judging by the smiles she brought to their faces, I'm pretty sure they loved it too.
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