Young library user brought me an ice cream during a long shift

I was in the back office during an unexpected double shift after a long, exhausting double shift the previous day, and really wasn't in a good mood, when someone knocked on the office door. Grumpy and expecting it to be another patron asking to be serviced during self-service hours, I opened the door to one of your young regulars. He informed me both of a malfunction of the security gate and that he'd brought me an ice cream from the shop across the library because: "We haven't seen each other in a long while".

It felt like being hit in the chest by a truck in the best way possible. This boy has been coming to the library a lot during the summer with an older boy. They are both in foster care in a shared flat nearby, and come around to play video games on the computer. I was initially pretty annoyed with the little one, because he's not very good at regulating his voice, and I'm chronically bad at filtering out noises, but later realised that he's a lot like me when I was little, and how much other people's annoyance over things I can't help have shaped me negatively. It helped to change my perspective, and we've become buddies since, I keep an eye on him taking breaks between the computer games and get him a glass of water when he forgets his water bottle, ask about school and projects. Just generally trying to be the kind of person I needed at that age.

There wasn't any expectation about being paid back for this in any way. The kid is like ten, and he needs someone to see him as something other than a nuisance (he once called himself that), and I'm more than happy to give that. I hadn't expected he'd come up, too, saving an awful day with the kind gesture of buying us ice cream cones. From his own pocket money.

I broke the "no food"-rule and sat down with him in the library to have the ice cream and catch up. This will stay with me forever. It reminded me why I love my job, even though it's been tough these last two years.

PS: I am sorry about the long post and explanation, it felt necessary to explain the impact.