I said 'bye' to my 6 year old cousin as she was leaving my place. She flat out ignored it. I called her by name and said it again, but she just made it look like she was too busy tying her shoelaces to have listened to me. I found it kinda disrespectful so I asked her why she won't say it back to me, in a graver tone. She looked up anxiously and murmured "but if I say goodbye to you, you won't open the door the next time I come", then rushed out catching up to her mum. Idk how she came to hold such a belief, but boy did it make my heart melt. I regretted how quick I was to judge her, and also realised how we as a society simply box any 'not-so-normal' behaviour of a child as 'mannerless' without entertaining any other explaination. Maybe just like people have varied meanings and different ways of saying "I love you", they also have varied meanings and different ways of saying, of "I miss you", "take care" or even "goodbye" perhaps.