i was in line at a grocery store, right behind a lady with her kid. the lady didn't seem to be paying attention to her kid. the kid was perhaps 1 years old. he just stared at me the way babies do, unflinching. i wondered if he recognized anything i was buying. like if he would get excited if i put one of his favorites on the conveyer belt. there was no reaction from him. he just continued to stare at me. that's when i realized that the kid is kinda ugly. i mean, when babies are born they are ugly but as they get older they become cute. they should be cute by his age but he's not there yet. maybe he never will be. maybe he's ugly. this little kid doesn't know he's ugly. that got me thinking about self-conscience, self-image, and self-esteem. at what point do we realize insults? at what point do kids tease each other? at what point does it hurt our self-esteem? i don't remember ever feeling good about myself as a kid. i mean, i never remember feeling like i was the shit. i just remember feeling shitty. i always had a bad image about myself. staring at that kid just made me think about how we all need to be more considerate to each other, especially around children because they pick up our bad habits so quickly. and it's terrible for children to think badly about themselves.