Spumoni

Spumoni is a splendid little ice cream treat made up of three flavors (chocolate, cherry, and pistachio) that swirl together to create heaven in a cup. In my current line of work I get to serve spumoni all day and all night. Add the heavenly taste to the fact that the ice cream comes free with their meal and people are somewhat ga-ga over their Spumoni. (capitalized to show respect...)

Last night I was serving Spumoni to a family that had four young children. After I placed the hand-dished dessert on the table I was about to banally recite my robotic "enjoy dessert" (insert smile) when I was interrupted by a wail. This was a whale of wail.

"Their ice cream is bigger than mine", sobbed one of the kids. His siblings were already started on their desserts, but it was true. Their ice cream was bigger than his, and he was not standing for it. His parents tried to hush him by showing him how much he had; by telling him to be grateful that he had gotten any ice cream at all. Least effective was their threat to altogether take it away from him if he didn't shut up about it. But he didn't shut up. The next series of wails began: "But it's not fair!!!!!!"

There is an unwritten law in childhood that fairness is the number one factor of importance in decision making. Let it be good, or let it be bad- it doesn't matter as long as it's fair. Every kid wants the equal piece of cake, the equal dish of ice cream, the equal punishment, the equal amount of chores. This law is sacred to kids and they take it very seriously.

I hurried back to the kitchen and brought out a small scoop of Spumoni, after all we have plenty of it in the store and it didn't hurt to bring out another dollup in the name of equality. The aggregate of his now two scoops equaled what his siblings' portions originally were so he was happy. Things were fair.

I wonder if we as adults shouldn't try to take a few notes from the laws of childhood? The tenets are few, but simple: Play nice. Forgive each other. Don't be afraid to get your hands dirty. Share. Be fair. Isn't that what it all comes down to anyway? Everyone just wants an equal-sized dish of heaven.