people watching

Lately my people watching has changed from just noticing all the freaks out in the world to wondering if our kid will have a mullet like that guy or if she'll talk on the phone all loud and obnoxious like that girl. Suddenly the world is full of archetypes and I can't help but imagine all the different ways our kid could turn out. Will it have brown or blond hair like one of us or will it get red or black hair? Will it have a weird bump on its nose? Will it go to college and wear ripped jeans or trendy purses? I look at all the faces around me on the bus and think these people are all someone's kid or brother or niece. I hope that someone bandaged that knee when it was skinned years ago or someone kissed that head goodnight. Maybe someone yelled at that punk to clean his room or stop looking at porn on the internet yesterday. Someone wishes this girl would call home more often I bet. I think about how these strangers might be nice or jerky or weird or have parental issues. I wonder how we'll do raising our kid who'll someday be a stranger on a bus that some pregnant girl is looking at a bit too long.