Babies

This morning I was walking north on Fort Washington avenue in the bright, sunny, warm morning. It was a lovely time, not too hot and wonderful clear light everywhere. Near the park around 175th street I saw two strollers full of babies. These are strollers that carry four children each, pushed by people who work at the P&S daycare center on Haven Avenue. The babies are so cute! I love especially those with very little hair, those naked head seeming just a bit too large but still charming. And how the babies continually look around, taking in everything and trying to understand what it is they are seeing! Whenever I see these babies, my heart jumps. They are so cute, so curious, so vulnerable because they can't do anything for themselves and are totally dependent on others. It's sad, in some inexplicable way. In this case, they are away from their parents, who are working, and in the care of others who may or may not think much of them. So whenever I see these babies, I am both happy and sad. I also think of my babies, who of course now are far past being babies, and think how fleeting this nice time of life is. But everythng is fleeting, and if we dwell on that, we'll be continually sad.

So I enjoyed the babies for a bit and then moved on. I'll see them again one day. As they grow up, they will be replaced by other new babies. Not at all like babies of mine.

Checkout

Today I was standing in line at Target, waiting to pay for my purchases. In front of me was someone paying, and a woman and man waiting. As usual at Target in the morning, there were 100 closed checkout stations and one open one.

Another checkout station opened up a few lanes away. The clerk said 'Next in line', and no one moved. So I went over to check out. At that point, the woman waiting in front of me got very angry, told me she was first, and told me to wait. So I stepped back and let her go first. The cashier asked her how she was, and she replied "Been better. I believe that man should go next." And she pointed to the man who had been ahead of me in the other line, now waiting behind me.

I just walked away and went back to the first cashier line.

What is it with women? Why do they have to rule the world? No man would ever complain about someone going in line ahead of them like that. Why did she have to bother?

It really started my day in a bad way. And got me thinking about how bad women can be.