way OFF: unhappy kids/guns story

[Robert C. Mayo]

was at the mall (yik) last night with my shopping-half and walked past a
fearsome :) 'mall cop' who was conversing with a roughly 5 yr old boy. as we
got closer, we could see the cop was trying to gently avoid the youngster's
grabbing hands by twisting and turning while trying to politely walk
away...getting even closer, we could see the kid was trying to grab the cop's
GUN; not really trying to steal it or anything; just wanted to 'see
it'...walking past within a few feet we overheard the cop trying to be as
discreet and polite as possible, telling the tyke, 'No, you can't touch that,
That's not for you to play with...' the look on the kid's face was a familiar
one: the look of a kid who can't have the toy he wants the most...

this episode really made me feel physically ill...

what to do, what to do...

ducking and covering,
bobm