Chipping Away

"I saw you carrying a bag into school yesterday," one of my homeroom students said this morning.

He's autistic, and he doesn't usually initiate conversations with me, so I was glad that he did, but like many teachers, I carry several bags every day, so it took me a few seconds to figure out what he was talking about."You mean that bag of chips?" I asked.

"Yeah. What were those for?"

"They were snacks for the Tolerance Club meeting," I told him.

"What's the Tolerance Club?" he asked.

"It's a club for kids that meets after school," I started. "We watch movies and talk about how to make our school a friendlier place. Do you think you would ever want to come to it?"

"No!" he said.

"Why not?" I asked him.

"Because it's for normal people," he answered.

That took me aback a bit. "It's for people who like people who are different," I told him. "Everybody is different in some way, right?"

"Yes," he said.

"So, would you like to come to a meeting sometime?" I asked again.

"Will I get chips?"

"Yep," I assured him.

"Then yes."