Me: “How was school?”
Child: “We got to write down the names of the people we’d like to be in the same class as next year.”
Me: “Oh yeah, who did you pick?”
Child: [rattles off some names]
Me: [Surprised at one or two of those names] Really? Why?
Child: For strategic reasons, I suppose.
Me: [blinks] What?
Child: [shrugs]
Me: You know, in Big Brother, when they voted for ‘strategy’ they wanted to get rid of a person, not keep them close. Big Brother isn’t real life.
Child: [rolls eyes]
But the more I’ve thought about it, the more I’ve wondered about this exchange. Sure, BB is a ‘constructed reality’, contrived if not downright fake. But human nature will out; people will have tantrums, seek alliances. Maybe kids are better at realising these things than we give them credit for. Or maybe I’m over thinking it and should just turn the damn television off.
