New-Found Appreciation for Small-Town Culture

Last Friday night, as the parent of a freshman football player, I had volunteered with other frosh parents to work the concession stand during Laguna’s varsity football game against Costa Mesa.

Throughout the game, I was struck by the amazing kids from our town that approached the snack window. Far from the stereotypical surly or disaffected attitudes so often applied to teens, these kids were uniformly polite and positive. There was not a single child over those few hours that didn’t ask for something with a “please” and a “thank you” as part of their request. Not one. And, to be fair, this observation expanded at halftime to include the kids from Costa Mesa.

In addition, a few kids stood out in other ways. There was the elementary school aged girl who was a bit short of the money needed for her snacks. I told her that I trusted her to leave with her order and come back with the rest of the money later. Fifteen minutes later, she very proudly returned with two wadded up dollar bills.

There was the one boy who returned $10 in change he’d been incorrectly given, and the two kids who found a child’s coin purse stuffed with cash and turned it in because they “worried the owner would be upset to have lost it”.

And there was the very small girl who charmed me. As she looked at the snacks, I asked her , “What she’d like to have most of all?”. She very proudly looked up at her Dad, pointed and smiled, and said, “Him!”

When the final quarter of the game began, I left the booth to glimpse a bit of the action on the field, which Laguna eventually won to clinch the league title.

As I stood looking out at the dedicated kids and coaches on the field and their cheering families and friends in the stand, I also noticed the beautiful backdrop of the moon reflecting brightly off the ocean on a crisp, clear Fall evening.

I went home feeling very proud of the kids, the school, the team and our community and I felt truly grateful to be a part of this “slice of small town life” on a perfect Friday night.

Footnotes: That coin purse was never claimed, please call Schoolpower at 494-6811 with a description if it’s yours!

The Laguna Breakers host a Varsity playoff game this Friday night. Come cheer them on and be a part of the experience!

The little girl who pointed at her Dad got the only “free candy” of the night. I couldn’t resist.

Steve Reid, Laguna Beach