I was at my other studio yesterday, the Starbucks on Wilson and Lincoln. Sometimes I just really, really need to get away from the internet. I was working on a few things and I couldn’t help but overhear a woman and her son approach the table next to me. I knew she was trouble when she said to her son, who was about 5, “Do you know what the music playing is called?” He shook his head. She said, “It’s called JAZZ. I want you to think about if you like it or not.”
They sat for a while, he ate his pastry, she talked to some woman she knew who approached their table. Her attention then turned back to her son. She pulled out and set up a chess board. Over the next 20 minutes or so, she would tell him to make a move, then explain to him why he made the wrong move and correct it. This was followed by making her move and telling him why her move was the right move. She reminded me of Harold’s mother in Harold and Maude. No, worse. The kid seemed to take it okay, but that can’t last long with this woman. The next thing I knew I was drawing the piece below, I guess as a wish for the kid’s future.
Oh. My. (G)(g)od.
Talk about a situation where you want to intervene. Still, it wouldn’t do much good for the kid. Inadvertently, mom is creating one of his first Big Obstacles to overcome. In the meantime, I hope he whips her ass in chess and is really mean about it and insists on playing the Sex Pistols every time she pulls out the chessboard.