In preparing for this paper, I think my biggest obstacle was figuring out “where” I was to find this child I am to study, while not in turn getting the police called on me for being a pervert. Though as luck would have it, the child, or children I should say, ended up finding me. I work in sales, in fact a large retail store, where customers come for help in remodeling their homes. All in all, the process can be rather time consuming, as was the case on this particular Saturday. I was walking through my department when I came upon a family;father in his mid-thirties, son of about six or seven, and daughter, around age nine or ten. The father was looking over a display, daughter by his side, and son spinning on a desk chair nearby. As I passed the young boy we made eye contact, and as I smiled and said hello, I was greeted with a tongue being stuck out at me and accompanied by the universal sign know as the middle-finger. Under normal circumstances I would have convinced myself it was an error due to his age, and surely he must have intended to give me a thumbs up. However, the pairing it with the stuck out tongue suggested otherwise. Little did I know, that for the next hour and a half I would be working with their father on some home improvement he had wanted to do, as well as these two children, whom I am sure you can imagine, were as thrilled to be spending their Saturday with me, as much as I with them.
During the course of our time together, I couldn’t help but notice how differently the children behaved. The little boy, whom I will from here on in refer to as “Chucky,” couldn’t seem to find enough things to get himself into. If he wasn’t “flipping off” passing by customers, he was tearing through the nearby aisles, knocking over displays, throwing anything not nailed down, and of course there’s my all time favorite and by far the best invention ever, skate-shoes. Now of course there is store policy on certain things, as well as the over all acceptable...