Rudeness Part 1

Milo is 9 years old and lives in an orphanage for boys. His parents died in a car crash. It seems to him that he will never get adopted. Other boys get placed in families but not Milo.

The look on his face and in his eyes betrays the anger he has been harboring since his parents died. It’s hard for Milo to make friends. A boy, Hudson, is the only one who sticks close to Milo.

Hudson is a kind and caring individual. The first time he saw Milo, he knew he needed to be his friend. Hudson has lived in the orphanage longer than Milo and is liked by everyone. All the boys want to be his friend because he is fun to be around.

The routine in the orphanage is typical. Early to bed and early to rise. First thing in the morning: get dressed, straighten your bed, and then eat breakfast. A teacher is on staff so the boys have an education. They spend many hours in class. After lunch, they can play outside for a while and then return to class. In the evenings the boys have chores to do. Some of the boys sweep, mop, or dust. Others clean the bathrooms or wash dishes. Each boy is assigned a task for a week then they rotate.

One Monday, Milo was given the task of sweeping. The orphanage had many rooms and hallways to sweep. The broom was made shorter than most brooms to accommodate the child’s stature or height. There were three sizes. Milo picked one and went to the top floor.

The main part of the room was not too difficult but under the beds proved otherwise.

He bumped and jostled the beds with the broom. The tidy beds became a mess of blankets and crooked pillows. He had trouble between the book case and the beds and knocked some of the books off the lower shelves. When he left, the room was in disarray.

Hallways were a piece of cake and he swept them lickety-split. One of the other boys, Everett, ran down the hall, came around the corner, and there was Milo. Milo didn’t move his broom and tripped Everett. Everett waited, sprawled on the floor, while Milo kept going, not even looking back.

In the bathroom, Milo knocked over the waste bin but it was empty, so trash didn’t get everywhere. After he finished with his chore, the place looked like a cyclone had ripped through it and one boy had been knocked down.

Miss Mathews called Milo into her office. “Milo, I inspected your work. What did you do in the rooms you were supposed to sweep?”

“I swept them.”

“The rooms looked like a disaster. Please go up and straighten all the mess you left behind.”

Milo sulked out of the room with hands in his pockets and slowly made his way up the stairs. He looked around and shrugged. He sighed. Half heartedly he straightened the blankets and shoved the books on the shelf.

The next morning at breakfast, he bumped his way into line with his tray. He cut to stand next to Hudson. Hudson glanced at the other boys and mouthed “Sorry.”

The trays contained bowls of gruel, a hot cereal, and cups of milk. Milo led the way to a bench at a table and sat down.

Hudson scooted in next to him. “How are you doing this morning, Milo?”

Milo shrugged.

“Want to play kick ball after lunch?”

Milo shoved his mouth full and around his food said, “That would be alright of you if can get the other boys to let me play.”

“Sure they will.” Hudson hoped they would.

Milo finished his gruel and gulped his milk. “Burrrrrpppp!”

All the boys turned toward the sound. Some snickered. A few were impressed. Hudson glanced up to see if an adult heard. Milo wiped his mouth with the back of his hand and crumbled his napkin on his plate. At the door, he went first and let the door slam in Hudson face.

The class room was filled with boys and Milo arrived almost late as usual. In his arms he held a couple of books for class.  He opened his arms and let them fall onto the table. The books skidded into another boys book pile and knocked one onto the floor. Milo didn’t take notice. The boy got up and retrieved his book.

It was time for lunch. Milo hurried around a corner and bumped into a lady with her husband and stepped on her toe. Milo didn’t say a word but dashed off to grab his tray.

After he slurped down his soup at lunch he hurried outside, again not caring if the door hit someone on the way out.

Hudson had arranged for Milo to be included in a game of kickball. The game went pretty well, until Milo was called out at home.

Milo kicked dirt on one of the older boys who was playing umpire. “What do you mean to call me out? You need to get glasses! Even a blind man could see I was safe!”

“I called it because he beat you there with the ball two steps before you did.”

“You’re lying! I quit!” Milo shouldered his way out of the group of boys.

He didn’t see the boys shaking their heads or shrugging after him. Hudson said, “Please excuse Milo. He lost his parents and is still angry.”

William said, “We’ve all lost our parents and you’ve been making excuses for him for months. He’s mean and rude. We don’t want to be around him let alone play with him.”

Milo ran over to the swings and knocked a boy who was starting to sit down out of the way. “My turn.”

The boy backed up to wait. Milo swung as high as he could go. His thoughts a whirl. They are all out to get me. No one here likes me. Well, I don’t care! Milo jumped out of the swing and landed at a run.

He ran and picked up a small branch he found under a tree and then over to the chain link fence. He scrapped the long twig against the fence as he ran. Around the yard he flew until he was exhausted and the twig was reduced to a stub.  

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Find out what happens to Milo in our next story in Rudeness Part 2.

Memorize: 1 Corinthians 13:4a and 5a Love suffers long and is kind…. Does not behave rudely, does not seek its own…

Verses in NKJV unless otherwise stated