Mama, mama!

Today, going back home from university, I saw a little boy. He was probably between 7 and 9 years old. His mother was right beside him, and they were just behind the driver cabin, so that the little boy could hear the driver speaking and, with his mum's help, see the cabin.

"Mama, mama! I wanna be a driver!", he said to his mother. She just smiled and continued looking outside the train, absent-minded. At every station, the little boy would repeat the announcements made by the co-driver, and also the classical "yoshi!" that the driver says at every depart.

"Mama! We arrived at Ooimachi! It was super fast, wasn't it, coming from Hatanodai? And, the train on the other side, in the boarding platform #2, is the express train bound to Mizonokuchi!", he was telling his mother, so excited after arriving in the final stop. She would only smile at him and grab his hand so that they could go out in a rush after the door opened.

I didn't see them anymore, but I could hear, among the random noises of the station, his excited voice talking about how beautiful were the train lights.


--
When I was young, I really loved trains. According to my (now deceased) grandfather, I used to say I wanted to be a "train tire repairman"! Why? I have no idea. I just loved to ride on trains, they were so magical! And I, possibly, admired the work of tire repairmen: those filthy guys all covered up in grease with black hands and clothes. My grandpa was once a repairmen. I really admired him, and wanted to be like him when I grew up; but I also loved trains! So, the solution was being a tire repairman that worked with train tires! But, of course, trains have no tires. I didn't know about that, and also I think I wouldn't care. I would still want to be a train tire repairman.

When we are kids, we have no prejudice: everything is marvelous and wonderful, and every profession is special in its own way. There is no good or bad; there is no dream of getting rich, of status. We just want to do that which marvel us. I never wanted to be a doctor or a lawyer when I was young. After a while, I eventually had to give up on being train tire repairman, and dreamt of being my hometown major! I have no idea why, but I was a very political kid. I remember me driving my small kids bike with a flag of one local politician. And I remember me sketching some weird plan to clean the main river of my city, once I got elected mayor!! =)

Kids are really wonderful beings. You never know what they are going to turn into. But they are the only humans that can be truly happy. We should learn from them. Learn to gain back that awe for everything, learn to be impressed by the focus of the train driver, to be astonished by how fast we can go when we are inside those little metal boxes that move above tracks. We should learn from them how to live every single moment as a new and unique one.

"Yoshi!"