Especially when the baby's parent is stressed and the baby is being fussy in public but the stranger is smiling and making faces at them to make them laugh. Or jingling their keys and jewelry to get the child's attention. And you can see the parent's relief and the stranger's delight. Especially when the stranger is an older person who clearly thinks the child is adorable and is really excited to have this moment.
i don't want kids, never really have, and i don't interact with them very often in my life. however, when i go to the coffee shop or the park or the farmers market, whatever, and i watch a parent who looks at their child with unconditional adoration and answers all their endless "why" questions and just does small things to care for them without thinking about it is delightful. as someone who no longer talks to one of their parents, it gives me some hope to see people who seem to be trying their hardest and enjoying it.
It's so lawless. You’ll see the weirdest things and no one will care. People are so unabashedly human here. Dead expressions, exhaustion, boredom. You’ll get a coffee, someone else will get a bloody mary, the time is irrelevant. Your priorities will be tested, everything costs at least three times as much as it should, it won’t matter. I love liminal spaces.
