street couch, Canon Digital Rebel
I took BART (the San Francisco subway) recently and as I waited for the train, I noticed a small boy and his dad negotiating about the appropriate way to interact with the escalator.
“Stop touching it and putting your hand in your mouth!” he said exasperated. “It’s a health hazard!”
“At least he’s not licking the handrail, right?” the dad said to me a little embarrassed.
The little boy looked at me shyly.
“It’s tempting, isn’t it?” I said.
And he giggled and said, “Yep.”
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Sweet temptations, where would I be without you?
hilarious!!! My fruity kids are ALWAYS licking something gross!
Thanks for the post today – it really made me smile after the last few weeks I’ve had – so thanks again – keep up the great work
Cheers Tonestar
Thank you for your lovely post!
It brought me back a little taste of SF, one of the coolest, loveliest places in the world.
I?m getting a little teary now. 😉
love this kind of random interaction with kids….
I love this post… I think sometimes parents are so worried about what being judged by others that they forget to allow their children to be children. Anytime a kid can be just that is wonderful. Good for you girl.
Jenn
yes! my best friend was laughing so hard just the other day because i told him i wanted to eat my patio flowers they were so pretty. it’s like the story of the boy who got the drawing or poem, i think is how it goes, from shel silverstein, and promtly eats it. when you’re into it, sometimes you have to take a bite.
This is great! It reminds me of a snippet from a Hugh Prather book I read waaaaaay back in the ’80’s where he comments on standing in a long bank line and notices that a little boy was the only person who had the courage to end the tedium and seek a new experience by lying down and writhing on the cool marble floor.
Thanks for the post. I remember waiting for the metro in Montreal with my family and my 3-year-old daughter unable to resist the urge of rolling around on the smooth concrete of the platform and, yes, even licking it a couple times before I convinced her to stand up. I didn’t totally comprehend the beauty of the moment until reading your post. My day is brighter now after this visit, as always.
Beautiful story.
I also find elevator buttons extremely tempting. Sometimes when I’m going up to the 19th floor in my office building and nobody else is in there with me, I PUSH EVERY SINGLE BUTTON. I have to. They’re all just so … there. And they’re fat. And they light up and everything.
Tee hee. You are exactly the person a kid wants to meet. Please never grow up!
I love that story. Little boys are the best.
Oh my god. Do you remember the ice sculpture in the french quarter? you had a friend that worked in the gallery and she had to tell a man, “excuse me sir, please do not lick the sculptures”. Happy…
love james
I can relate to the desire to break all the rules and have a moment of joyous disregard.
Each moment has its tempting little treats that summon and call for our embrace. But the
strong voices of reason stand like storm troopers guarding the gates of our potentially reckless impulse.