ANOTHER AFTERNOON AT THE NEW YORK Public Library. Katy loved her profession passionately, but she hated the long periods of monotonous routine that she faced at certain times. The quiet period was sometimes good to take advantage of and do more reflective work, but there were times when nothing happened, and she was in one of those.
Everything changed when a teenager entered the lobby and approached her, with a list of titles he wanted to read.
— Miss, I need these here.
— Are they for some school project? — she asked.
— Actually, just a few, but my teacher also recommended that I read these, to understand more about politics.
Katherine examined the short list of books the teacher had recommended and became concerned. She knew most of them and realized the indoctrination intent of that teacher. She felt sorry for the boy and his fragility in the face of the tacit ideological scheme that the school exercised over him. Her soul boiled in an internal dialectic between fulfilling her role and giving him the listed instruments of doctrine or teaching him something to vaccinate him against that contagion.
What was her real duty?
— Miss?" the boy asked impatiently.
— Hi! Yes, yes, I'll look into this for you!
A FEW MINUTES LATER, she returned with some of the listed books, but others on the list did not come.
— Look, I got all the ones you need for the job, but these ones he recommended are not available. Do you accept my suggestions?
"Well," the innocent man replied. "I think so..."
— So — she said, showing the books she had brought — read these ones I brought calmly, they will help you understand the subject better. Okay?
Thoughtfully, he replied:
— Okay. Thank you.
— You can always count on me! — she said, with a smile on her face. As she watched him leave, a sense of duty fulfilled came to her heart, calming her restlessness about what she had done. She imagined the future of that infant, what he would become one day, and that frightened her.
The potential of that young man was mysterious; he could become anything, live any lifestyle, follow any career... But she was certain of one thing: whatever he became, whether a salesman, a musician or the President of the nation, would suffer the repercussions of his small act just a few minutes ago.
A President could govern the country in a few decades as a result of his influence in that brief and fleeting moment of common sense. Or a new teacher would shape an entire generation of thoughtful students, or a musician would compose songs that would make people reflect; in short, in the near future, there would be someone continuing the torrent of transformation that she had started. Noticing herself in her own gesture, she concluded her thought and said a few words to herself in a low voice: Everyone has the power to change something at some point...