Talkin' Shit About A Pretty Sunset

Today I saw a father gripping his three-year-old son's hand, walking him past a raving crack whore sitting sprawled out on the sidewalk.

The spectacle stopped me in my tracks. I stood there with a smile, watching the dad stiff-armedly lead his young child past this poor woman's bloodshot eyes, scraggly hair and loud, spittle-flying rants. The kid was brave. Didn't cry one drop.

Perhaps a boy's first experience with human social reality?

Perhaps something that shouldn't occur until the young teen ventures into the city for the first time (aged 22).

Regardless, that scene is what the suburbs were built to prevent.

For years I've been on the fence about having a kid, but now I want one. Not because of witnessing that weird scene, but it definitely reinforced what I'd already been thinking.

The Kid Idea has been rolling around my head for a while, so I've been noticing their existence like never before. It's like kids are coming out of the woodwork -- 70% of my neighbors pushing strollers? Damn, where did that come from.

And no, for now -- maybe forever -- I am NOT moving to the suburbs. I swear, in the 30 or so countries I've visited, the USA is the only place where people look askance if you want to raise kids in a city.

I want my kids to understand what the world is truly like, at least before they have sex for the first time. Don't get me wrong, I love the suburbs -- grew up in Loco MoCo -- but how is Playmobile-land going to teach my children anything about crack-crazed hookers? CNN is no substitute for the real thing.

It's either full-on rural countryside, or urban overcrowding for my upcoming family. Swear.

Or, once I actually have the baby, I may relocate to Silver Spring in nine months flat (I wouldn't put it past myself).

;-)