Leonard Griffiths tells how once he was sitting at a U shaped counter eating a hamburger at the Washington airport.There was a man who was sitting next to him who appeared rather glum and silent. But then a mother came in with her daughter and she sat opposite them.
Griffiths said he found it hard to keep his eyes off the child, although he tried hard not to stare.
The child could not have been more than ten yet she had a wrinkled face and a terrible complexion. The silent woman beside him did stare and made no attempt to hide it. Suddenly she spoke and said tenderly to the little girl, “How old are you dear?” The child grinned showing wide gaps in her teeth. “Eight”, she replied. Then the woman said, “You have such beautiful eyes.” She was rewarded by a smile that lighted up the cafeteria and Leonard Griffiths thought to himself, “Why couldn’t I have done a nice thing like that? Why didn’t I notice her eyes?”