The day I forgot my Button

Dear Diary,

This morning my daddy was being so weird. He was supposed to take me to school and when we got there he didn’t let me out of the car. I had forgotten to put on my magic button. He said it was important and we left the school and went to wait for mommy at the grocery store parking lot.

My daddy asked what I was supposed to do in school today and we talked about all my friends. But when I asked him about the button he would just say, “it’s important”. I don’t know why its important. Not even everyone at school has one, only my class. There are some different ones too. A moon, bracelets, a star, a funny looking bird. I heard that there is also a feather and a rainbow. I really wanted the rainbow, but mommy said I can only have this one.

When mommy met us, she pinned the badge on me. I asked her if she was okay, daddy said the baby didn’t let her sleep and that’s why she looked sad. That was not nice of the baby.

Then we went to school. It was weird, daddy walked me all the way back to class. And he had on a button too. I didn’t know that grown-ups had them too. Maybe I can trade my button for a rainbow sometime.

There is a good chance you remember the story of Anne Frank. If the xenophobic attitudes are allowed to continue and become mainstream, we may have a generation of Anne Franks. They will sweep across cultures, religions, ethnicities, and gender.

Prevention is simple. Get to know your neighbor. Help a stranger. Talk to people. Engagement reduces ignorance.