A "Memorable" Moment

BOLO: I think that means "Be on the lookout" in police lingo. Well that's also one of the tasks our school staff is charged with during the first weeks of school. We are to be on the lookout for children who need help finding their classrooms due to the newness of the school year. You see, we have a unique setting due to the fact that we have about 1000 kindergarten, first, and second graders in a humongous physical facility. There are 50 homerooms, not to mention classrooms and offices galore for support staff. Eight of our classes are housed in portables, which means that children have to follow the winding sidewalk to their classes. Although I'm sure many students feel overwhelmed at first, we have scads of caring adults helping them find just the spot they're looking for. During the first week of school, I ran into a brand new second grader, a handsome blond boy who'd transferred to us from another town. Noticing his confused demeanor, I offered to help him find his way, which was a bit convoluted due to the fact that his new class was located in one of the outside classrooms. As we walked together, I remarked that I realized he had lots of new things to learn about...friends, his teacher, schoolwork, and his big new school building. With his chatty personality, the little boy agreed but volunteered more positive information. "I do have ONE thing that I already know, though. It's my lunch number. I know it so well that I can't get it out of my mind. It just goes around and around in my brain." Now our students' lunch numbers are located on tags that they wear around their necks to the cafeteria, where the tags are scanned for lunch charges. The numbers are several digits long and not very easy to memorize. Smiling down at him, I said, "Oh really? Those are hard to remember. What IS your lunch number?" Looking straight ahead, the personable child shrugged his shoulders and nonchalantly quipped, "I forgot", and he moseyed on into class, leaving me on the sidewalk giggling!