Not Buying, Just Touching.

     While spending some time at the local mall, we found ourselves inside Sears checking out the Tools and Hardware department. Boy Stuff. After I had picked up a few items and shown them to Kevin, he said: “Mr. Allen, can I hold that screwdriver?” It just happened to be a screwdriver with a real “grippy” handle. 

     “Sure,” I said and went ahead and placed it in his hand to hold (and feel).

     “Ahhh,” Kevin said. “That’s nice. I like that!” So I looked around and found something else that he might like to hold. This time it was a foot long screwdriver. Next I handed him a small sledge hammer, then a wrench, a ratchet, a hatchet, a razor blade knife and any tool I could get into his hands. Sometimes Kevin would have one tool in each hand and look for another to trade. He was in tool heaven; thoroughly excited. Once we had held everything in the “tool” department, we moved over to the “hardware” area.

     “Can I hold that, too?” Kevin asked as he gazed at the bins of nuts and bolts before him. He wanted to pick up and hold and handle everything. He was thriving on touch. We spent a good 90 minutes just handling the merchandise, with a few curious stares along the way. In the hardware department it was sponges, brushes, rope, tape nuts, bolts, and a variety of other miscellaneous items worth touching and holding. Every now and then, someone would stop and stare and wonder what we were doing--playing or stealing? A clerk tried to help us a couple of times, but then left us alone after he realized we were not buying, just touching.

   “How about that, Mr. Allen?  Can I hold that, too?"