Today I was offered my first tip on the job.

Sweet smiling Jenny a first grader with straight swingy blond hair and blue eyes and a smile that is delighted to be smiled came up to me as the other first graders were rioting into order in the hall and took the shiny dime out of her pocket, and held it in the middle of the outstretched palm of her hand.  She offered, "I want you to have this."

At this point I had half an eye on a pair of boys who were a half-second from a kickfest on each other's shins, but Jenny's big eyes were looking expectantly at me, and I had to deal with the most important issue first.  I bent down to look into her eyes as I talked to her.

"Jenny," gently spoken, because she had bravely put herself into the position of having her generosity refused, "I can't take that from you."  Her face clouded, and she asked why I couldn't.  "I'm an adult," I said, "and I can't take money from the children I work with.  It wouldn't be fair."

She didn't understand of course, and I couldn't take the dime, as small as it was to me and as important as it was to her.  I have learned a thing or two in raising my children, and in leading Girl Scouts, teaching this or that to children, chaperoning dozens of field trips and having youngsters under foot for many years.

What I have learned is that lying is a very good thing.

"I can't take your dime, but I can give it to you," I said.  "And because you gave it away and it came back to you now it's a Lucky Dime.  It will give you good luck and I'll want to hear what you wish for with it."

I wish I could say that Jenny was completely convinced by this instant superstition.  I wish she had clasped it in her hand and been delighted by the prospect of wishes-to-come-true.  But that would be lying unnecessarily.  Adults don't need those faux good feelings that comfort children when they are disappointed by the illogical way the world works.

She looked at the dime dubiously.  She looked at me, disappointed.  And then I got the tip that I have already tucked into my memory.

"You really do a good job," she said seriously.

I feel really great today.

"If you don't want to cry all of the time, you have to be willing to laugh."

~~Pete Seeger, American composer and singer

This was Pete Seeger's take on having his classic, idealistic anthem for social justice and activism rewritten and used as a song celebrating Representative Tom Delay and his drive to browbeat Americans to enlist in his arch-conservative vision for America.

A letter about the use of the song, or mis-use according to the letter writer, prompted a reporter to call Seeger and ask him if he was indeed as outraged as he was assumed to be.  The very practical folkie, who coincidentally turns 86 years old today, said that songs have always been taken, rewritten, and used by others.  He said he found this particular application kind of amusing.

And maybe his willingness to laugh has kept him interested and open to the world around him.  I'd much rather be like that than bitter and cynical, so I intend to look for things to laugh about, too.