I Call Your Name II

When C was in Nova Scotia visiting relatives with my parents he told me there were some kids, a brother and a sister, that he played with. They went to school so he couldn't go play with them until the afternoon. They had a trampoline.
I asked what their names were but C said he didn't know. I wondered how he could play with two children for a week and not learn their names. Then it occurred to me that he didn't need to know their names. He wasn't calling them on the phone, only looking out a window to see if they were in their yard. He didn't need to know their names to know if they were nice or fun to play with. I remember being in Nova Scotia when my sister was the same age as C and she played for a week with the little boy next door who spoke only French. It's only adults who need to know names in order to categorize other people. In order to size them up.
I was midway through congratulating myself on having such a deep thought when I realized that this wasn't an original idea at all.
Grown-ups love figures. When you tell them that you have made a new friend they never ask you any questions about essential matters. They never say to you, "What does his voice sound like? What games does he love best? Does he collect butterflies?" Instead, they demand: "How old is he? How many brothers has he? How much does he weigh? How much money does his father make?" Only from these figures do they think they have learned anything about him
That's The Little Prince of course. One of the greatest little books ever written.

song: I Call Your Name • artist: The Beatles