Oil Spill At Breakfast

For the convenience of all we gathered at a local restaurant to celebrate Father’s Day with breakfast. Our group, my daughters and son-in-law, my wife and our grandsons enjoyed all the buffet line offered. As the adults visited, the two boys were quietly at work. They had already finished their ice cream and were bored with the adult talk so they were entertaining themselves. As we all know, when active little boys grow quiet, you better pay attention. Yes, they were quietly playing in their water glasses. Their activity also included straws and napkins. They knew better than to play in water when eating out, but since it was Father’s Day, they were counting on Pappy’s forgiving disposition. When I quietly inquired as to why they were making a mess on the table, a discussion of the Gulf Oil Spill was forthcoming. They were inventing ways to solve the “oil spill problem.” The older had a straw, which was bent coming from a glass which represented the ocean. He had discovered the siphoning technique and was pulling the oil from the ocean, the water in the glass, on to a plate on the table. His younger brother, not to be outdone was dealing with the problem directly. The oil spill, water spilled from a drinking glass, was being absorbed by a dinner napkin; he was not wiping up the water (oil), but letting it be absorbed. He insisted that he had not made a mess and all of this was in the interest of science. As adults we too often discount the knowledge youngster today have of what is going on the world around them. What a blessing it is to know that not only were these boys aware of the problem but were actively addressing the problem as only a child could