Sometimes you don't know

Don’t hide your knowledge gaps. Put them out there so you can fill them.

I took this one.

“What do you mean it’s closed?”

My mother stood air fried on the sidewalk in front of a man in a gray shirt. She appeared to any passerby like a child whose bright red balloon had just been popped. Standing there with only an empty stick, I dare say that tears were imminent. 

The man repeated himself with the addition of “I’m sorry,” to the first half of his statement, as in “I’m sorry, but we’re closed for a private event.”

I’ll spare you more detail and say that her pleading (We came all the way from Philadelphia…) gained us sufficient sympathy and, with our metaphorical red balloon reinflated, entrance to the Boston Fire Museum. 

The Boston Fire Museum has occupied the old firehouse at 344 Congress Street in Boston’s seaport district since 1983. The museum committee, which oversees the operation of the museum, is an all-volunteer group dedicated to informing friends and visitors about the history of firefighting. Since the Boston Fire Department is one of the oldest in …