We live up against the train tracks, and unfortunately it’s pretty common for kids to climb up there and cause mischief (real mischief, like throwing rocks through people’s windows). Whenever we see kids up there, we always call the police immediately, but I think there’ not a lot they can really do.
However, it always causes quite a commotion, and all of this transfers down to the kids. They get VERY upset when they see “teenagers” up on the tracks. Oliver in particular seems particularly obsessed with teenagers, and how naughty they are. I’m not even sure if he knows exactly what a teenager is, since he seems to use the word to mean some sort of malicious gremlin.
Ollie: “Does the clock have glass over it so the teenagers don’t change what time it is?”
…which I guess isn’t so far from the truth. On the other hand, it’s possible that he’s not upset enough about these terrible teenagers. They do carry a certain mystique:
Ollie: “Teenager know how to do that.”
Me: “Do what?”
Ollie: “Take their boots off [by stepping on the back and not sitting down]. They do it after they come down from the train tracks. There’s probably a teenager doing it right now, at his home.”
Alas, I guess their cool disregard for the law (and boot removal conventions) outweighs the badness of getting up on the train tracks:
Ollie: “Where do the teenagers climb up on the tracks?”
Sara: “Right there.”
Ollie: “When I’m a teenager, I might climb up on those tracks too.”
Me: “I hope not. I hope you’re a good teenager who wouldn’t do that.”
Ollie: “Yeah. But I’ll probably be the other kind of teenager.”
Shane Halbach 