Girls are beautiful

I overheard Charlie and his friends in the parking lot yesterday.  They all had their bikes, and they were ready to race, except that Jake insisted that there were no girls allowed.  This meant that Annika was out of the race.  It's not like she was a huge threat.  The girl breaks for cockroaches.  She breaks for leaves that might be cockroaches.  Charlie was her champion.  For a moment, I even heard a respect for feminism that made me surge with pride.  "SHE CAN PLAY!  GIRLS CAN PLAY."  Jake insisted that she couldn't play and that she wasn't good at racing.  Charlie came back, "No!  Girls are....GIRLS ARE BEAUTIFUL!"  Jake wouldn't allow this either.  He said they weren't beautiful.  I was really listening to Charlie now. "Yes, they are!  Because...because...they have cheeks and arms and lips!"  Well, I loved hearing Charlie's version of beauty, though my feminist pride went out the window.  I still think he senses a strength in women.  He went on to tell Jake that when girls grow up you can kiss them.  The other kids were shouting at this.  "No!"  Charlie is just ahead of his time.  And I will be stressing the importance of talent, intellect, and personality in the value of women.