Big Brother

No, this post has nothing to do with the TV reality show (which, by the way, the French have morphed into about 5 trashy spin-off shows) but about actual real-life big brothers. I don't have an older brother (I have 2 younger brothers) and, when I see how over protective older brothers can be, am usually grateful that I was the one bossing my brothers around and not vice versa.

But sometimes, on rare occasions, I wish I had had an older brother. And today, one of those occasions presented themselves in the form of a delightful little 14-year old boy. At about 9:30 am, a pretty little girl (who was probably about 5 years old) dressed in a turquoise frilly dress traipsed into the store in the obligatory hip-jiggling way that little girls in frilly dresses do, followed by (what looked like) her older brother who seemed to be about 14. She became all over-excited as any 5-year old would in a candy store, and he just stayed calm, giggled a bit and asked her in the sweetest, most patient way ever which sweets she wanted. She took ages to decide (which I'm now used to) and inspected each jar as if she was making a life-changing decision. And throughout all her hesitation, deliberation and changing her mind, her older brother just stayed calm and spoke to her in the kindest way. But, what melted my heart the most was when he took her in his arms and lifted her up so that he could show her what was on the higher shelves so she could get a chance to see everything.

Okay, while I understand that this may not be a tear-jerking anecdote, I must say, it was seriously refreshing and heart-warming to see an adolescent being so patient and humouring his younger sibling the way this 14-year old did. Usually, such visits are filled with "hurry up and just take anything !" or "i'm never bringing you back here again !" or, my personal favourite "come ON, you're making me swell up" (in French, of course !). So, just to say that the 14-year old that came by today is the kind of big brother I would have wished to have. But, I'm quite happy with my two younger brothers whom I happily annoyed the crap out of as we were growing up (I particularly remember how irritated they were when I got to high school because they kept saying "you just think you're so cool now because you're in high school !").

PS : Might I just add that the sweet 14-year old also "congratulated" me for working so hard (yes, being a candy taste-tester is tough job but someone's got to do it...) and that I really should take a break. Awwwww