An outing to the local playground in the park gave me some foul food for thought and a bit of indigestion.

I took the kiddies out. The day was rather rainy throughout, but had to snatch a few moments between the rainy spells to air the little rascals, otherwise they go mad, and I do too, but much more.

There is a new installation in the park playground. A spinning wheel, the metal sort- a bit like a plate- that is installed in the ground, with a bench on it, and barriers around. So kiddies, who are game for a spell of dizziness, jump on and spin. My children love it, and I am wondering if that may be some government-blessed way of seeking alternative states of minds. But then it could be the first step to serious stuff: Spin on a wheel when you're 3, roll a joint at 14, sort coke at 19 and so we roll down the hill. By the way, downhill rolling is another fave game of my children. Fortunately, a thorough wash is good enough to deal with the after effects.

Gosh, I am straying...anybody there still?

About the spinning wheel.
I and my kids got on it. My little girl is just too little to stay seated on her own, I need to support her and be there with her. And being on the wheel, I cannot spin it. My son is not big enough to spin it with mummy and sister on it. So we were kind of stuck on the wheel, not moving, trying to figure out how to get it going, when two big black children (brother and sister) approached and offered us a spin. Great. We were up for it. And so the grabbed the barriers, and on the outside of the wheel ran and pushed the wheel round. Quite fast. Faster than my kiddies are used to, anyway. My son screamed. With joy. My daughter shrieked, with less joy and more uncertainty. I made silly faces and 'ahhhh' noises, demonstrating I was joining in the fun. All in all, we were a bunch of human noise on a wheel.
Then I asked the kind kids to stop, which they did somewaht reluctantly. The fun was obviously mutual. I stayed for a while seated on the bench, just making sure I was steady on feet before I got up. Then I realized with amazement that a bunch of parents were watching us with expressions of clear concern and apprehension in her faces.
One guy even came by and as if in passing asked if everything was OK.
Yes, it was. Perfect. Why wouldn't it?
Then I realized that the scene of me and my children on the wheel must have looked to the others a bit suspcious, rough perhaps.
But I bet, if the children were white, there would be no concern registering on the onlookers' faces, actually I bet (what a gambler I am), the whole scene would hardly register in anyone's mind and memory.