Are children good or bad? The jury is still out.

I am reading a book at a café. My hair is bundled
on top of my head and held in place with a stick.
A child is sitting nearby and keeps pointing at
me. "Booga," she says. "Booga-Booga-Booga."

Her dad comes over. "She thinks you're the
Buddha," he explained. "Probably because of
your hair."

Ha-ha, I say.

"Can I introduce you?" he asks.

OK.

They come over. "Here's the Buddha," the man says.

I say hi and after they leave a woman at the next
table leans over.

"That was so cute," she says. "I had really bad
acne as a teenager and one time, just like that,
a kid came up to me and asked if I had been shot
in the face."



Index