i was at this little thrift store today, like goodwill..
(apparantly sponsored by the salvation army)
anywho...
i was looking for something my mom wanted me to look for...
and ended up browsing books next to a mom and her little boy of about 7 maybe 8 years?

he was an animated, curious, expressive, happy little boy,
(not at all ur bouncing-off-the-wall ritalin kid)...
he was saying things like
"hmmm, wut books can i look at.."
"where are the kids' books?"
"oh, here they are!"
" *gasp* mom, i've never read this berenstain book before! i don't think we have this at home!"
"do you think we can buy this? how much does it cost?"

when kids start going into question mode, i find myself annoyed and impatient...
but surprisingly enough, his tone of curiosity mixed in with pure childlike honesty was comforting and could make me forget about the 90 degree weather and saddam hussein...

meanwhile, a young 30-something dad comes from the clothes rack with a terry cloth multi-colored robe...

dad: here, try this on..
son: wut is it? where's the dressing room?
dad: u don't need a dressing room..
son: (starts to remove his clothing)
dad: u don't need to take ur clothes off, u can try it on over ur clothes...
son: oh, well, wut is this?
dad: it's a robe..
son: a robe? oh!! i can wear this in the rain!! i can wear this in the rain, right?
dad: u wear it after u get out of the shower, so u don't run around naked all the time, dude...
son: (puts the hood over his head) i can use this to dry my hair! cool! i won't need a towel!.....

i felt like an anthropologist observing homo functional-familia at their best...
and i wanted to walk over to them, give them hugs, and tell them wut a great job they were doing...
but i decided not to...
as an anthropologist one should observe without seeking to change or disturb the environment...
so instead, i just smiled and walked away knowing the world isn't so bad.....