How are you?

The little girl was about five years old, playing in front of her house, jumping, hopping, skipping. I was about six houses away, approaching her in my power chair as I came down the block.

She stopped suddenly, planted her feet and unabashedly stared as I got closer, looking over my arms, my legs.

I know from doing handicap awareness with elementary school kids that they usually ask two questions or a variation on them:

1. Are you in pain? (or does it hurt?)
2. How do you do things? ( how do you eat? how do you get into/out of bed? etc.)

And when you think about it, it boils down to are you okay? Whenever I see a young child stare, I tend to think some of their curiosity is about these questions, which usually go unasked- and unanswered.

"Hi, how are you?" I asked.

"Okay."

"I'm okay too," I said, smiling. I spun the wheelchair in a 360 degree turn.

"Wow, that looks like fun," she said.

As I continued on, she waved, smiling. When I looked back from halfway down the block, she was playing.

A few blocks later, I saw a family moving into a house. Two teens were out by the car, carrying boxes in. The younger girl was about 15 and she stared as I approached, as unabashedly as the five year old. Her older brother, about 18, smiled and said "Hello, how are you?"

"Good," I said. The 15 year old turned away and looked into the car as I spoke to her brother, welcoming them to the neighborhood before I moved on.

A few minutes later I heard him say to her "That was rude, turning your back."

"I couldn't stand that if it was me," she said.

Those unanswered - and unasked questions.