The sun was hot, but the day felt perfect. I love to be outside when many people are around, all having fun. This big amusement park, it was a good place for me. So many sounds – laughter, music from the rides, the happy screams of children. I stood in the line for the big Ferris wheel. It was a long line, snaking like a snake through the park, but I did not mind. It gave me time to see everything and listen to the world around me. My ears are very good. I can hear many different sounds at once, even the small ones.
There was a family in front of me, a mom and dad with two small boys. They were talking about ice cream. Further ahead, maybe six or seven people up, I saw a young woman. She was not old, maybe twenty, twenty-one years. She had three small children with her, all very young, maybe one was in a stroller, the others just learning to walk properly. Her hair was very bright, almost yellow, and she wore clothes that showed her arms and legs. She walked with a way that said, look at me, I am the most important person here.
I watched her. She kept looking at the line, then at her phone, then at her children. She had a bag hanging from her shoulder. Her face, it was not mean, but it was not kind either. More like she was always thinking about something very important that only she understood. She was a little bit bigger than most girls her age, but she moved like a dancer, like she thought everyone was looking at her, and she was so beautiful. She made a loud sound sometimes, like a laugh, but it was not a happy laugh. It was more like she was telling everyone, I am here, pay attention to me!
The line moved slowly, inch by inch. Most people were patient, just happy to be at the park. But this young woman, she was not patient. I saw her talking to herself, then she looked up at the line, way ahead, where the line bends around the big tree. She made a face, like she smelled something bad. Then, she pushed the stroller forward, very fast, and the two other children had to run to keep up. She went past maybe three groups of people, not even looking at them.
A man, tall with a blue hat, was right where she tried to squeeze in. He held up his hand. “Excuse me,” he said, “but the line starts back there.” He pointed with his thumb over his shoulder. The young woman stopped. She looked at him. Her eyes, they were big and blue. She had a small gold ring on her finger that sparkled a lot, even in the sun. She touched it for a moment, then she gave her loud, not-so-happy laugh. “Oh,” she said, “my children are very tired. We have been waiting for a long time.” She did not say sorry.
The man in the blue hat looked confused. He said, “I understand, but everyone is waiting. We have all been here a long time. My kids are tired too.” He had two young girls with him, holding his hands.
The young woman did not listen. She just pushed the stroller forward again, bumping it a little into the man’s leg. The man moved back. Then, a lady standing right behind him spoke up. This lady had a very kind face, soft eyes, and gray hair pulled back in a bun. She was smiling, but her voice was firm. “Sweetheart,” she said, “there is a line. It is not fair to the other children to just cut in front. Maybe you could go to the end and wait like everyone else?”
This kind lady, she was so nice, even when someone was being not nice. She looked at the young woman with a calm face, like she was talking to her own child. The young woman, her face changed. It got a little red. She put her hands on her hips. “My children are too young to wait that long!” she said, very loud. She looked around like she wanted everyone to agree with her. “They need to get on this ride now. We have been here for hours!”
I knew for sure that was not true. We had not been in line for hours. Maybe thirty minutes, forty at most. Her loud voice, it made the little baby in the stroller start to make small whimpering sounds. One of her older children, a little boy, pulled on her shirt. “Mommy,” he said, “can we get ice cream?”
The young woman just ignored him. She was looking at the kind lady. “I am not going to the back of the line,” she said. “My children are special. They deserve to go first.”
The kind lady, she kept her smile. It was amazing. “I am sorry, dear,” she said. “But everyone’s children are special. This is just how it works here. We all take turns.”
Now the young woman started to wave her hands. “This is ridiculous!” she shouted. “I have three small children! Can’t you see that? It is very hard for me. You people are so selfish! You do not care about mothers!”
People in the line started to look. No one said much. They just watched. Some looked down at their feet. My heart felt a little bit bad, not for the young woman, but for her children. They looked scared. The baby was crying louder now. The little boy was still pulling her shirt, asking about ice cream.
Then, a very loud sound ripped through the air. BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP! It was a cell phone, ringing with a very old, very annoying ringtone, like an alarm. It came from a man behind me, who was now digging into his bag, his face red. He fumbled and fumbled, trying to turn it off. Everyone, even the young woman, stopped and looked at him. It was so loud, like a fire truck was in the line with us. The moment of anger, it was broken for a short time by this silly, loud noise.
The kind lady used this chance. “Perhaps we should get a park employee,” she said softly to the young woman. “They can explain the line rules to you.”
The young woman’s face got even redder. “You want to call a manager on me?” she yelled. “For trying to get my children on a ride? This is unbelievable!”
I saw the kind lady nod slowly. She reached into her pocket. “I think it is the right thing to do,” she said. “For everyone.”
She pulled out her phone. I thought she was going to call someone. Then, just as she put the phone to her ear, a voice called out, “I need to go! My daughter is waiting!”
It was the mom from the family in front of me, with the two small boys. She looked worried. “My daughter is waiting at the exit. I told her I would be there quickly!”
I felt a small push from behind. The line was moving again, but I was not looking at the Ferris wheel. I was looking at the young woman and the kind lady. The mom in front of me started to walk away from the line, needing to leave quickly. She gave a fast apology to the people around her as she squeezed past. I had to move too. My own family was meeting me at the photo booth near the park entrance, and I was already a little late. They did not like to wait.
As I started to walk, looking back over my shoulder, I saw the kind lady still holding her phone. The young woman was still standing there, her face red, her loud voice going on and on. Her children, they looked so small and lost. The little boy was still pulling her shirt, but he had stopped asking for ice cream. He just looked at his shoes. My heart felt very bad for him and his sisters. They just wanted to ride the Ferris wheel, but now all this noise was happening instead.
I walked away, the loud cell phone still beeping in my memory. The crowd around me got thicker, and soon I could not see the Ferris wheel line anymore. I never knew what happened to the young woman or if her children ever got on the ride. I only hoped they found a quiet place to get some ice cream instead of all that shouting.
