The American kid

The American kid, the ones in the age group six to eleven, are smart and say “the darnedest things in the world” if you have watched those programs presented by Bill Cosby and now by Steve Harvey. They are not self-conscious, if anything. They are bold, wide eyed, stand with arms on their hips, legs a little apart and firmly planted on the ground. They are frank and often disconcertingly so.

Once I was attending a birthday party in a restaurant. The children were making a racket with party hats on and with tooters blowing. I had come out for a breath of fresh air. I found two young girls aged around six or seven sitting on a bench outside the restaurant, just shooting the breeze. I felt a little concerned about those two kids sitting by themselves, outside the restaurant, late in the evening, and asked them what they were doing there. Calmly came the reply “We are on time out”.