This morning I’m writing from Chick-Fil-A.
A man is talking on his cell phone, while also placing his order. Obviously the CFA employee is thrilled with this set-up. Especially since she has to start every question with, “Excuse me? Sir? Bacon or sausage?” and then, “Excuse me? Sir? Did you want fruit?”
It’s a chain reaction because then cell-phone guy has to tell the person he’s talking to, “Excuse me just a second. Bacon.” Then, “Excuse me just a second. Yes. Fruit.”
In summary: there is a lot of “excuse me” happening up in here.
But it’s good because it’s reminded me to tell you about all the “excuse me” talk happening at our house.
Sam has another tic. Last month, he started to say, “Excuse me,” all the time.
For the first couple minutes, I thought, “Wow. Listen to this kid! This is a kid who knows his manners. His mother has RAISED HIM RIGHT! He does not burp in other people’s faces. At least not without saying, ‘Excuse me.’ THIS is a kid who does not interrupt. At least not without saying, ‘Excuse me.'”
It took me about four sentences to realize that he was not saying, “excuse me” in the actual sense of the word. He was saying it as a tic. The kid has had tics before, and we’ve learned the cardinal rule is, “Do not mention the tic. It will go away if you ignore it; NEVER point it out.”
Not pointing it out is so hard. He says, “excuse me” about ten times every sentence. Here’s how he sounds: “Excuseme. Mommy? Exscuseme. Exscuseme. Exscuseme. Can exscuseme we exscuseme go exscuseme exscuseme go exscuseme exscuseme swimming?”
The whole time I want to say, “You are excused.” But that would be pointing it out. So, I just nod and smile and ignore it.
Crazy thing is everyone seems to ignore it. Even other kids–who, we all know, love to point out anything different about anyone–ignore it. Get this. Even his siblings ignore it. Occasionally, Elisabeth will yell, “WHY DO YOU KEEP SAYING THAT, SAM?!”
This works like a charm to make him say, “excuseme” twice as much.
During the last week of school we called his teacher for a conference. “What do you make of Sam’s new tic?” we asked.
“Tic?” she asked. “I thought he was just being polite.”
Maybe he is. Maybe good manners are at the root of this new tic. And, typical Sam, he’s just gone overboard with it.
If that’s the case, I’ll just hope it dies down and soon distills to just the good manners of a kid who excuses himself when burping or interrupting.
Or–God forbid–talking on his cell phone while ordering at CFA.
