Making Orangutangs

Dateline Thursday, 28th July.
17:30 London time
12:30 Washington DC time.

I'm seated on a transatlantic flight ... and I'm placed up towards the bulkhead seats where the mothers, babies and toddlers are seated; a full flight and a number of very-much-younger people around. Happy gurgling sounds, shrieks and (relief!) very few screams; the gamble of going for this seat in order to avoid lean-backs ahead of me seems to have paid off.

I'm struck by the mothers (and fathers, let's be PC ... no let's be honest and say MOSTLY the mothers) taking their offspring up the aisle to stretch, entertain, relieve, change ... and in every case leading poor junior along by a hand hauled high into the air. Do you, dear reader, walk along the street or around your house with hand held high, would you be comfortable doing so? So why oh why do we do it to our kids? I recall "reins" from many years ago. I also recall myself having kids who really early on could be guided by words and reason rather than by physical controls. Ah - but perhaps those are slightly later memories, fond ones, of taking two kids totalling no more that 10 years between them to far-flung destinations and, yes, as a lone father at times.

Perhaps it's that history that leaves me mellow as I sit and write here today. Perhaps its elements of that history the leave me that very odd combination of scientist and teacher. Perhaps it's some of that history that leaves me somewhat unphased by whatever my working day might bring.

Written in flight, posted later from solid earth
(written 2005-07-28, updated 2006-06-05)

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