Behind me in the queue for the checkout of the supermarket is a boy of about thirteen. Clearly a student from the adjacent gymnasium. He has a croissant to pay for and I have a full cart. “You go first”, I say, “otherwise you will be late after the break.” He settles his eighty cents with one euro and gets twenty cents back. He hands me the coin: “Thank you for letting me go first, madam, and this one is for you.”
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A version of this article also appeared in the newspaper of April 5, 2023