reflexive bowing

i just met one of the neighborhood kids.  he's Korean and probably about 9 or 10.  as he was walking up to me, he looked at me, and instinctively bowed a little bit.  he didn't know that i was Korean for sure, but his reflexes kicked in, and even though he didn't full on bow and say the polite Korean greeting for adults, he couldn't stop the quick bow of the head.  i knew at least three things from this very small gesture:

• he is Korean
• his parents taught him right
• i'm old

he ended up asking me politely (through a slight black accent--nearly all of the neighborhood kids are black) if i was Korean, and i said yes, and i asked him too, and he said he was too.  it was nice to confirm for each of us that the bow wasn't weird.  

the whole thing made me smile.  smile a whole lot, actually.  and hope that our baby will one day reflexively bow to greet all Korean adults, because he's Korean and that's how it should be.  

lovelove,

32-years-364-days-old lady