Sometimes I think adults can be way too hard on themselves. They mope about having lost childhood innocence and the childhood sense of play. I call this into sharp question. When I was a youngster, I planted butter beans in the backyard and set on the steps waiting for them to grow. This is an example of childhood innocence all right – childhood ignorance of plant growth. It also points to typical childhood fun which is often outside in playgrounds or the backyard. We do not need to feel that we have failed as adults because we do not spend an inordinate portion of time in the yard discovering each neat hiding place. I contend that adults play constantly at work – I know I did and had tremendous fun discovering new things and enjoying people. So the next time you see an adult crying in their beer because of lost childhood traits, consider the underlying satisfaction adults get from their responsible duties. In fact, the real tragedy of unemployment is the forced withdrawal from employment's undergirding harmony with childhood play. Unemployment is a cruel form of detention.
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