They've Got Us Pegged

image found on Wikipedia, here. 

Yesterday, John and I went to WalMart. Because we needed a fishing pole. Our garage walls are lined with neatly mounted fishing poles of all sizes and types, but.....we needed another one. I made a loop around the store to get a little exercise in and then waited for John near the store entrance.

It's a great spot for people watching.

I was sitting on a metal bench, and directly behind me was a McDonald's restaurant. And, as always, the place was filled with color and enticing smells and lots of kids. I was thinking that I wished my bench faced the restaurant instead of having my back to all the action.

Then, a young mom wheeled her shopping cart over to my bench. Strapped in the kiddie seat attached to the cart was a darling little girl. She must have been somewhere around nine months and reminded me a great deal of my kids at that age: chubby, bald, and had an abundance of adorable dimples in all the cutest places. I had to sit on my hands to stifle my impulse to hug this cutie pie child. The mom sat on the bench next to me, pulled out her phone, and began to text away madly.

Meanwhile, the baby scrutinized me intently with her blue eyes. I'm not sure what she thought about me because her expression was solemn. At least she didn't burst into tears. She then let her gaze wander to the McDonald's behind me, and she broke into an enormous smile while waving her chubby little arms and bare tootsies. She looked enthralled.

I laughed, and her mom looked up from her cell phone and then at me. "Looks like she loves McDonald's!" I said.

The young woman huffed, "She has NEVER had fast food once. Ever!" But she couldn't help but join in laughing as we watched the baby girl do everything in her little nine month old power to convince her mommy that it was time to go to McDonald's. She squealed, she laughed, she pointed, and waved her arms and legs.

Mom was flabbergasted. "I wonder why?"

Well, young mom. I think that the fast food industry has done enormous amounts of research and spent a great deal of time and money to create exactly this same reaction from people of ALL ages.