Ma'am, I Apologize...

I took my nephews to the park yesterday and there was a group of black kids hanging around a bench. Then suddenly a fight broke out between some boys. One of the boys picked up a big rock behind me and was going to throw it at another kid, but then another black boy hold him back saying "Don't do that. Don't you know there are little kids around". However, the one with the rock got loose and the one holding him back tapped my back and said,"Ma'am, I apologize for that". And I was so surprised at his remark, but I didn't even hesitate and just said "It's okay, thank you".

And the whole time I was staring at this courageous young fellow of probably 15 years old or so just holding back this kid with the rock who end up biting his hand. I just thought, "Wow...his parents raised him so well", even though I know nothing about him. This has never happened to me before, so I was shocked at the kind of formality and responsibility he illustrated. He cared about the children on the playground and he was aware of the negative impact it may have on kids and he even apologize for someone else's actions to me. I was very proud of him because I don't feel that many kids around me would respond such a way or even know how to think this way. This moment left a great impression on me for life. Thank you boy.