Jason got the paper, but he didn’t “get” the paper. He was 8 and besides skimming the comics, which 99% of the time were painfully unfunny, it offered him nothing. Wars. Stocks. Underwear ads. Adult stuff. But daily, for his father, he retrieved the latest copy from the lawn before the sprinklers began their morning soaking.

Today’s headline caught his eye immediately. Now, he couldn’t understand all the words he read, but he got the gist. This was news. Important kid news. What they knew all along, confirmed. In print. He smiled and raced inside.

Spinach was bad for you.

©2006 Grant Baciocco