05/02/2020
My 10-year-old chin rests on the window sill of the car. I feel like a sad dog staring out the passenger side window looking like I’m the only dog that doesn’t like car rides. We pass the local creek and I watch some boys riding their bikes down into the gulley. I perk up finding what they are doing interesting wishing I could join them. Some of them carry rods on the side of their bikes the ends of them bouncing with the bike as it hits rocks in the side of the road, bobbers dangling at the ends of the rods. Others grip the handles of small sand-colored tackle boxes. They ride in perfect uniformity following each other in a line. They ride as if they are a synchronized team that has been together for years. Their mouths are wide open as they glance back and forth at each other, laughing. Their lips move, but their sounds are inaudible.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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I watch them until they disappear into the gulley and I can only see the tops of their heads. My body sits back in my seat and I go back to resting my chin on the car door. In my mind I play out the rest of the scene in my head. All of them are fishing, having a good time, maybe finding a crayfish or two as well. When they are done they ride back home to show their moms what they had caught.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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Today, as a parent, when I drive around my neighborhood I barely see kids outside, let alone riding bikes together down the shore of a creek. Why don’t I see this anymore? Maybe I just don’t pay attention, but honestly, I think it’s more than that. Kids probably find video games more fun now and parents are probably not letting kids go farther than the driveway. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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Are parents more scared these days? Is society really more scary than it was 20 years ago? According to crime statistics we live in a time that’s safer than ever before, but kids aren’t allowed to go outside by themselves. Neighbors tell on parents if a girl walks her dog around the block (true story). Continued in comments...
