MisteRogers' Neighborhood1968

Lady Aberlin:
I brought you milk.

Daniel Striped Tiger:
Oh, thank you, Lady Aberlin.

Lady Aberlin:
When you called for it, I thought you sounded a little sad.

Daniel Striped Tiger:
Would you hold it while I get a straw? Thank you. [Lady Aberlin opens the carton as Daniel returns with a straw, which Lady Aberlin puts in the carton and he starts drinking it]

Lady Aberlin:
Did you hear what I said about being sad?

Daniel Striped Tiger:
Yes, I did. A-B-C-D-F... G-J-K... L-M-S... Oh, Lady Aberlin, I just can't go to school tomorrow.

Lady Aberlin:
Why not, Daniel?

Daniel Striped Tiger:
Because I don't know everything.

Lady Aberlin:
You don't know everything? I don't understand.

Daniel Striped Tiger:
Well, Lady Elaine said that we couldn't go to school if we didn't know ALL the letters and ALL the numbers on these charts. And I've tried and tried to learn them, but I just can't, so I guess I can't go. [starts to cry] And I wanted to go to school, I really did.

Lady Aberlin:
But, Daniel, Lady Elaine is just plain WRONG. You don't need to know everything before you begin. In fact, that's what school is for: to help you to learn, not to scare you.

Daniel Striped Tiger:
How do you know?

Lady Aberlin:
Because I went to school and I didn't know those things when I started.

Daniel Striped Tiger:
What was it like at your school?

Lady Aberlin:
Oh, Daniel, I loved my school. I had a teacher who really wanted to be a teacher, and every morning she would welcome us and make us feel as though we were all kind of going on a trip together.

Daniel Striped Tiger:
What sort of trip?

Lady Aberlin:
A trip to some place new. Some place we never even though of. We learned so many things about the world and about different countries and people and ships and stars and planes...

Daniel Striped Tiger:
And trucks?

Lady Aberlin:
Yes, and trucks and cars and flowers and about how some people like some things and some people like other things.