Live And Learn

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I treated myself to breakfast today at a somewhat upscale place called First Watch. I eat there occasionally during the week. On weekends it is usually too crowded, which is why I call it "First Watch, Then Eat" on Saturdays and Sundays. In addition to having incredible delectable omelettes, the restaurant is also within walking distance of my humble abode.

This morning, soon after I arrived, a young guy came in and was seated a couple of tables away from me. This kid looked like a walking and talking version of the standard Deepest East Dayton thug/gangsta/punk - replete with the obligatory sideways baseball cap pulled down low, the "diamond" earrings, the much too large jacket and pants, etc.

Except that this guy came with a couple of extra items: specifically, a very large hot pink "Winnie The Pooh" oversized bag slung across one shoulder and in his other arm: a little baby girl in a carrier.

While I ate breakfast and read my book, I also watched this kid be a perfect parent and father.

He ate with one hand while feeding his baby a bottle with the other. He also stopped eating to hold her when she started to get fussy. He even managed to coax a very successful (and very loud i might add!) burp out of the little gal. After the ceremonial back-patting burp, I saw him do a "diaper check." A few minutes later he took the little one out of her carrier and into the restroom for what I assumed to be a change in under garments.

When I left the young guy was finishing his meal while his little baby girl started to doze off sucking on this hilarious Halloween-inspired vampire-toothed "binky."

Obviously, what I witnessed was not an earth-shattering event, but it sure as hell shot a few holes in one of my not so very well concealed stereotypes.

I do believe that I just lived and learned.

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