Choices

I was sitting in the square. At the table next to me were parents visiting their daughter, a college student. There was grade trouble or some other problem apparently, because the conversation became heated. Words like responsibility and maturity were flung around by the father. The mother sat silently, staring ahead. The daughter, perched on the bench next to her mother, looked for maternal support and found none.

"You will find," her father said, "that there are choices in life. There are some gray areas. But if you don't follow the rules in life, you will be crushed. "

I turned and saw the daughter stand up, pause and then leave.

The parents sat silently in the bright afternoon sunshine, alone.