Yes

I walk in the trailer to see a group of kids raiding our fridge. Typical. 

I ask them, from afar, what they are doing, they laugh. Typical. 

I walk closer to see them huddled around a carton of eggs. Not Typical.

We have a saying around here; “Yes.”  The answer is yes. Can I have this? Yes.  Can I eat this? Yes. Can I take this home for my mom? For my brother? For my grandpa? For my dog? Yes, yes, yes, and sure? 

What we are trying to do is let them know we are here, we exist to be here for them. We trust them, we trust they know their needs and their family’s needs better than we do.  Therefore, the answer is simply, yes. 

Opinions on this may differ, but we do not believe our role here is to discipline them.  It is simply to be here for them. So, it is typical to find kids raiding our fridge. After joking and again informing them about personal space, we ask them, what it is they are looking for? Honestly, it is usually nothing and we then move them along, out of the kitchen.

I think they like to test us on this, make sure we are what we say we are.  We had a kid walk out with 2 jars of peanut butter this week, he made a joke asking if he could take all our peanut butter, and you know what we said? Yes. If you need all that peanut butter, it is yours. Another kid called out he had peanut butter, but no bread. I told him I would find him some bread. But you know what? Both kids left empty handed. Truth is, they didn’t actually need the peanut butter or the bread. I knew that and they knew that, they just wanted to make sure. 

Don’t we all? 

Isn’t that why we pay our insurance every month? We may not actually need it at the moment, but we want to make sure it’s there when we do. They are just performing their monthly check, making sure the answer is still “Yes”.  Making sure we are who we say we are.

So, when a group of kids asked Alyssa, in what I am told was a very polite (maybe joking?) way, if they could egg her car, her answer? Yes. 

Personally, I am not sure I would have taken our “yes” that far. In fact, I know I wouldn’t have because the car I am driving right now was recently gifted to me.  I don’t quite feel like it is mine yet and therefore, I have been very careful with it. But, Alyssa’s car, Alyssa’s choice. So I step aside as the kids take our eggs and run, laughing, back out of the trailer. Outside they all line up 5 feet from Alyssa’s car with eggs in hand, giving Alyssa the “Are you serious?” look and repeatedly saying out loud “she said yes, she said we could”, All the while, ensuring they were not about to get in trouble for it. 

One kid nudges the other “You go first.” They do not understand why Alyssa is allowing this. To be honest, I don’t either. Again, I would have said no. 

But it’s her car, so it’s all fun and games. In fact, I think I’ll pull out my camera, ready, set, record! 

The first of them, the bravest, the one who will discover if there will be repercussions, winds up her throw. Egg in hand she brings her arm back and then flings it forward with such a force, a smile clear across her face and lets it go. That is when I realize, it is my car parked directly behind Alyssa’s and this girl had way too much of a wind up for a target only 5 feet away from her. BAM. Just like that the recording goes off and it’s not fun and games anymore.  It’s “Girl, how the heck did you miss a target as big as a CAR while standing 5 feet away from it?!” and some “Let me get you something to clean that with” 

I spent the rest of the night a little annoyed that my friend said yes in the first place. Sure, I could have stopped them at the fridge. I should have seen it coming when they lined up, I could have stopped it then. I could have moved my car. But these things I did not do, I just spent the time asking myself why she had said yes in the first place. 

I didn’t get my answer until I walked a young boy home that night. In the 10 minute walk to his house in the back of the park, all he did was smile. Why? Because he could not BELIEVE that Alyssa said yes.  They spent the afternoon egging a car. He went on and on about it, asking me if I could believe it, like I wasn’t there, like it wasn’t my car too. 

Ultimately, I realized on that walk home, Alyssa created a memory for these kids they will never forget. In a positive environment, with positive people, she created a positive memory.  A reminder of what it is all about. 

In a world full of no’s, I suppose, this why we continue to say yes. 

-Brooke