How many times has something caught your eye but you had to fight the urge to stare? Perhaps it was the lady with the green hair and the forehead tattoo or maybe it was the man dressed like a flag. (Not that there’s anything wrong with either of those things, they’re just not very common occurrences.)
I know I would be tempted for sure, but then a little voice would pop into my head (one that sounds suspiciously like my mother’s) that tells me not to stare “because it’s rude.” So I don’t. I turn the other way and then feel overly conscious about the fact that I’m not staring.
Kids, on the other hand, have no such restraints. The social niceties haven’t quite been imprinted on their little minds yet, so they get a free pass to stare away. And let me tell you, they use it.
Case in point: riding home on the Metro today we ended up sitting by a cute little family. If you’ve ever ridden a subway you know that there is an unspoken rule that you do not speak to each other. That rule goes double for looking at other people. You keep your head down and ignore the people around you until you exit the train. But since the rules don’t yet apply to Henry, he stared at that family for almost the entire 20 minute ride to our station.
Awesome.
It got me thinking about how kids can get away with staring at people. If I had done the same thing, I would have at the very least been given a dirty look in return. At worst I would have been considered a stalker and been turned into the Metro Police.
Even if it’s a “good” stare, it’s not usually welcome. Have you ever seen someone who is so strikingly beautiful, so perfectly coiffed, that you just have to look? But alas, even then, it’s still not okay.
Which is why I sometimes wish that I were a kid, just so that I could get away with it. Then, if I were to run across that lady with the green hair and the tattoo on her forehead, I could stare at her until my heart was content.
Oh well. Since the rules for adults aren’t going to change anytime soon, I guess I’ll just have to settle for sneaking little glances out of the corner of my eyes and I’ll leave the staring to the kids.
They do plenty enough for all of us.
When I’m on the bus I always catch a glimps of the little ones staring into the distance (starin at people) whatever they may be looking at for the entire bus ride..and I wonder what they are thinking? Precious!
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