kids these days

there's a kid in the office today. two actually. whenever parents bring their kids into the office they sternly tell them to stay out of everyone's way and not bother anyone, but i always silently hope the kids will come "bother" me. and they usually do. (the office dog hangs out with me a lot and there's a bowl of candy on my desk, so i'm kind of a magnet.)

part of me hopes i have my own office when i have kids so that i can bring my kids in to experience the magic. the other part knows that i don't want to work in an office my whole life. one day my boss and i were working on a project and we could see the kids playing outside at the daycare in our backyard. she nodded in that direction and said, "oh god, aren't you glad you don't have to work at a place like that?" actually i had literally just been thinking how much i wished i was working at that daycare, getting paid to run around on the playground.

i l-o-v-e-d going to the hospital my mom works at when i was little (and it was probably my lingering childhood fascination that inspired me to get a job there later, ha). for whatever reason it was the most exciting experience. the parking garage in and of itself was amazing, let alone riding the glass elevator you could look out and see the city from. walking in through a revolving door. riding up an escalator and then another elevator with buttons to press. an endless supply of plastic gloves, swirly desk chairs with wheels, huge slices of pizza from the cafeteria, waiting rooms with cable TV, the hospital gift shop, and a machine by the pharmacy to stick your arm in for who knows what reason.

i was a shy little kid but that place must've put me in really good spirits, because one of her coworkers still brings up the fact that i used to always tell jokes?! i have NO recollection of doing that, but i wish i could hear them now. if they were anything like the jokes i wrote on a birthday card for my dad, they must've been a real treat ...

"Q. What is 2+2+2? A. You should know, you're 40!

Q. Know how to jump in the pool? A. Jump in the punch!"

most of the kids who visit this office are disappointingly inadept at creating their own fun and enjoying the magic of the office. their parents shut them up with video games and high tech things i do not know the names of. i never had that stuff and i'm grateful. i hope my kids won't hate me for limiting that in their lives, but i guess i don't care that much because i think it's ridiculous how computerized kids are.

i seat families at work and all three kids will be gaming away on their little gadgets. (wow, gadgets - really chelsea? i do need to get with it at least a little and learn what some of those things are called.) one little boy who couldn't have been older than nine years old asked me if we had wifi. he got mad when i said no. you're eating dinner at red lobster with your family and you're NINE, what could you possibly need the internet for?! same with the 12-year-olds texting throughout an entire meal - i thought it was bad enough when people my age do that, but again, you're 12, what could you possibly be texting about?! yesterday i overheard a kid (again, age 12 or less cause she definitely asked for a kids menu) say - "oh mom, i only know her last name on facebook. i can't think of it now." seriously?!

it really shouldn't bother me ... but it does. my poor kids. but hey, maybe their technological-deprivation will take their imaginations to the extreme and they will cure cancer or outdo ralph lauren or build a better mousetrap. you never know.