[electronic sample noise from a children's interactive board book]

child: mom! look! look at what i found! look at what i found, mom! i found a book! mom!

child's mother: um-hmm, timmy. do you want to pick a book?

[another electronic sample noise from a children's interactive board book]

child: i found a book, mom! mom! mom! i found a book! MOM! MOM! [electronic sample noises] IT MAKES NOISE, MOM! [as if this discovery equates that of fire, antibiotics or chocolate] THE BOOK MAKES NOISE! [as if child is discovering this anew with each moment] SEE MOM? THE BOOK MAKES NOISE! THE BOOK MAKES NOISE, MOM!

[electronic sample noises]

child's mother: yes, timmy.

child: MOM! LOOK! LOOK! [miraculously, no diminishment of this discovery has yet occurred] THE BOOK MAKES NOISE! THE BOOK MAKES NOISE, MOM! [child shouting over electronic sample noises] THE BOOK MAKES NOISE! MOM! THE BOOK MAKES NOISE! I FOUND A BOOK, MOM! THE BOOK MAKES NOISE! LOOK, MOM! THE BOOK MAKES NOISE! [electronic sample noises]

child's mother: yes, timmy, i see.

[electronic sample noises]

child's mother: that's really for babies, timmy.

[electronic sample noises]

child's mother: timmy, do you want to pick a book?

child: MOM! THE BOOK MAKES NOISE! THE BOOK MAKES NOISE, MOM! LOOK! MOM! THE BOOK MAKES NOISE!

[conversation continues for several minutes with very little linguistic or tonal variation]


*

so strange.
the little boy was so incredibly enthusiastic about the noise. lovely that there was also a book, but obviously the purpose for this item's invention was the fact that you pressed buttons on it and it made noise.
which, i suppose, is refreshing in this modern age of touch screens and earring cams; most of us have rarely considered the technological marvel of interactive board books. well, i've certainly considered them, having worked in as many bookstores as i have, though my consideration process generally involved hiding them behind quieter inventory.
his mother was so entirely indifferent, her indifference just seemed to make the little boy more enthusiastic. they were ignoring each other completely, in their separate modes: boy in enthusiasm, mother in distracted indifference. it was like they were in different rooms! this conversation just went on--and on--and on--for the better part of an hour. it was a marvel of endurance for both parties.

an incredibly disturbing marvel of endurance.

i don't know how this interaction left me feeling about the future of humanity.