Coffee Talk

One thing about young people is that they find strength in numbers, even though most of them hate studying mathematics.

So one teen can be sullen or cranky, but you put two or three of them together for a bee-fest and the sum of their nastiness is much more than its individual parts.  And I mean boys and girls too.  Don't think for a minute that boys don't run each other down, too! Sometimes with their words, sometimes with their cars.

But what we have here is the note that a woman named Michelle Icard left for a gaggle of girls she happened to sit next to at a Starbucks in Charlotte, NC. While they sipped their mochachocalatayayas, they were bashing some other girls and whinging about gifts that had been bestowed upon them that were not quite up to their lofty standards.

Ms Icard was so upset that she left the coffee shop, but was encouraged to come back and try to educate the young ladies. She wrote a note:

"Hi Girls! I sat near you today in Starbucks and listened as you talked. You three are obviously pretty and hard-working. I wish your kindness matched your pretty exteriors. I heard you talk about a girl who sang a song about being lonely in the talent show – and you laughed. About a girl who couldn't be lead singer because you got all the votes, about crappy presents other people have given you … and you sounded so mean and petty. 

"You are smart and you are pretty. It would take nothing from you to also be kind. – M." 

And so far, while plaudits and kudos have rained down on Ms Icard like a typhoon of good will, no one has come forward to admit being one of the NazzztyGurrrrrlzzzz Squad. Icard runs a website where she promises to help people deal with middle school students, and so she deserves our love and support for attempting the impossible.

A very wise friend of mine once said that no one likes a 13-year-old boy...even other 13-year-old boys. It's a horrible age to be, and let's hope this note rang true to these young ladies and that they are - even as we speak - reaching out to the less lovely, the less talented, and their families, demonstrating how they have learned a valuable lesson and will now get their coffee at WaWa.