You Sure are Lucky

佚名/Anonymous

八月的一个闷热的下午，我实在是倒霉透顶。开始是机场安检时的一场闹剧，然后是抽样药检，最后因天气和机械故障造成航班误点。

在登机口的一片混乱中，我注意到一个5岁的小男孩，站在他妈妈身边，盯着我。他的目光在我和我的包之间来回游移。

他小心地离开妈妈，慢慢朝我走来，不时瞟一眼他妈妈和我，还有我的包。待他靠近我时，我才奇怪地发现他不是冲我来的，而是冲着我的帽子。

我正打算告诉他别动我的东西，但某种原因阻止了我，我继续看着他。他在我的提包前停下来，盯着我的帽子，然后，抬起头来，看着我。

他睁着大大的眼睛，轻轻地抚摩我的帽檐，食指慢慢地移动，然后仔细地摸着徽章。

他又抬起头来看我，微笑着，一句话也不说。我问他是不是想戴我的上尉军帽。他兴奋地点点头，仍然面带微笑。我把帽子放在他头顶上，但帽子很快滑到他耳朵下。他毫不在意，用两只小手把帽子举到合适的位置，跑过去给他妈妈看，又笑呵呵地跑回来。

带着无比的敬意，他郑重其事地、慢慢地用两只手举着帽子递还给我，好像他举着的是王冠上的宝石。

我戴上帽子，递给他一张明信片，他仍然充满敬畏地用两只手捧着。

交换过后，他仍一言不发，我知道他很激动。他驱散了我心情的烦闷，我也因此感到很开心。

他两只手仍小心地托着明信片，抬起头来，看着我说：“先生，您一定会好运的。”

“是的，”我说，“我会好运的。”

我最后一个坐上返乡的飞机，在飞机上，这个5岁孩子的智慧令我沉思。

It was a hot， muggy August afternoon， and I had every reason to feel sorry for myself. A comedy of hassles began with the normal airport security gauntlet， followed by a random drug test， and a missed flight home due to a number of mechanical， weather problems.

During the usual pandemonium at the gate， I noticed a 5-year-old boy standing by his mother and watching me. He looked at me， then my bag， then back at me.

Cautiously， he left his mother's side and slowly began to walk toward me， glancing between my bag， his mother， and me. As he came closer， I was both relieved and alarmed that it wasn't me he was after. It was my hat.

I started to tell him not to bother my things， but something made me stop and watch. He stopped in front of my bag， looking at my hat， then up at me.

With wide eyes， he gently touched the bill of my hat. Running his index finger slowly along the edge， carefully touching the emblem.

Again， he looked up at me， now smiling， but saying nothing. I asked him if he would like to wear my captain hat. He excitedly nodded his head， still smiling. I placed my hat on his head， but it fell down around his ears. He didn't seem to mind and held it up in the proper position with both hands. He ran to show his mother， then back to me still smiling from ear to ear.

With much reverence and ceremony， he slowly removed my hat with both hands and presented it to me as though it were the crown jewels.

I put my hat on and gave him an airplane card. This， too， he held with both hands in awe.

After this exchange， he still hadn't spoken， although I knew he was excited， I was also happy that I had been briefly distracted from my self-pity fester.

Still holding the card carefully with both hands， he looked up at me and said， "Mister， you sure are lucky."

"Yes，" I said， "I sure am."

I contemplated the wisdom of a 5-year-old， as I got the last seat on that flight home.