Scene: Elementary school PTA fundraiser

I shifted from foot to foot. I'd been volunteering for an hour more than my expected 5-6:15 shift. I was hot, and tired, and hungry, and surrounded by children who I did not birth who wanted the soda I was selling but didn't have any money. And they were dressed as their favorite celebrities.

I smiled brightly as much as I could, not wanting to scare them with my inner monologue.

Then she walked past. Probably a sixth grader, dressed as I assume Taylor Swift complete with shocking red lipstick imperfectly applied. She looked at the soda.

"I wish I had money," she said. "It mocks me."

I smiled for real, because that girl is my kind of people.