March 8, 2021. Playa Royale, Mexico. The Children at Lunch.

When eating by myself at the beach restaurant I do my best to listen in on other peoples conversation. The day was beautiful and as I watched the sparkling of the sea, I listened. I got lucky. Five people sat down only two tables away from me. They were on a lower level so they could not see me. Their group was made up of a Mother, a grandmother and grandfather and two little girls, perhaps 3 and 5 years old. Unfortunately I could not hear the adults so well, but the children with their high pitched voices were clear to me. First they discussed what they were going to eat. The little one said she only wanted french fries. And she wanted a big plate of french fries. The Mother instructed her to select something else too. "You eat french fries along with something else", said the Mother. But the little girl did not agree. After much discussion, she selected a hot dog, along with her big plate of french fries. All was well. The older girl noticed the red flag which was on a post four feet high on the beach, just in front of the restaurant. She evidently had never noticed it before. She asked what it was. So the grandfather gave a short lecture about the flags: red means danger and stay out, yellow go in with caution and green all clear and safe. It took awhile to figure it out but eventually she asked her grandfather this question. "Why did we go into the water when the red flag was flying?" I did laugh to myself but I suspect the adult response was unsatisfactory. Civil disobedience just started in that little girl.