The kids are alright.

"I'm gonna have a kid, he's gonna be a fuckin' Navy Seal, he's gonna beat the shit out of me and all my friends, rip up our comic books, melt our lead figure, make our lives a living hell." -Patton Oswalt

I treated myself to lunch today at a local longstanding diner in town, there wasn't much going on (partially the reason I went in the first place), although I couldn't help but sit quietly and listen to everyone's conversations, as minimal as they were.  However there were two people that sat across from me that really engaged my interest: a mother and daughter.

The mother and daughter held a closer-than-most relationship that was established in a very strong (albeit slightly passive) conversation between the two.  It was that type of girl who just a little nerdy and corny, but still a sweetheart, and the mom looked like she was either a one-time background singer for Joni Mitchell or just never left the hippie culture of Bellingham.

And it's not that I have anything specific against hippies, that is except that they're like pacifist Tea Party members.  They just don't make sense to me, and I think that might just be my instantaneous distrust of anyone who chooses to follow blindly into something that symbolizes a move to change.

ANYWAYS, the point was not this.  It was the polarity of the situation that made me a little awkwarded out.  As the mom is the demographic that wouldn't be assumed to have a kid like the one she had.

Example: The mom at one point found someone's headphones in the booth in which the two of them were sitting in, and instead of simply going to the server and telling her that she found them, she chooses to integrate  the situation with her daughter, whom of which doesn't seem to care, yet tries to.  The situation turns into a Brady Bunch type of situation where the mother goes "Well, I don't think these are ours, but what do you think we should do?

The woman clearly cares for her child, but I've had similar situations with my parents, and the moment last less than 15 seconds.

VS.

The girl telling her mom about these movie she's really looking forward to in which Robert Downey Jr. plays a man trying to get home to his wife whom is about to give birth to his child (to which she displays some amicable scenes she thinks are funny from the limited number of movie trailers.  again she's kind of lame but really sweet).  The mom (Joan Baez of the Pacific Northwest) puts in a very fake laugh about these comments

and that's when I realized something.

More and more I hear about this dynamic of reproducing where your child has a full potential of being completely opposite what you had hoped for under one's care and compassion.  I imagine my hypothetical child (who's name would probably be something like Dude or Harrison) would be into playing piano to woo some new age hipster girls and grow his hair out long or something, I don't know.  But one in my shoes of passive retro-conservative thought and a desire to see The Black Keys live wouldn't necessarily expect a greek system trust-fund patriot, but the reality of the situation is kids don't want to be their parents and the rebellion to clean haircuts and a love for Abercrombie and Fitch clothing is the most likely output of me tending for a child.

But today I saw it in the polar opposite way for the first time.  A girl who, while still very close to her mom, is quickly moving into a different side-tangent demographic, while mom is probably going home to make something out of leeks and terra-cotta pots.

I think what made it a little unnerving was the fact that they were both having ice cream sundaes.  Something about how, kind of, forced the aesthetic looked really felt weird and unnatural.  Now is this a symbolic transition of the relationship?  Probably not.  But in my ability to properly define the situation I just felt awkward hearing it all go down.