Tuesday, January 31, 2006
As Mom, Big Big Man and I were driving along one of our fair island's main arteries today, and Little Big Man was enjoying his first ride in his front-facing car seat, we were contemplating the fall of video rental stores. Seems that Netflix, Tivo and nine million channels on cable are edging out what once was an indispensible neighborhood service. What, we wondered, would pop up in the places of the Blockbusters and Hollywood Videos when they went out of business? More drugstores?
"Drive-through workouts," Mom said.
"More kids' party places," I said.
But as Big Big Man pointed out, it's going to be all about convenience. Someone will start offering a service that we all now do ourselves, he said, and then we'll start going there to have it done for us, and pretty soon no one will be doing it at home anymore. BBM suggested baby changing.
"Especially if it were drive-through!" I said. "And especially if they took the kid out of the car seat for you!"
You could drive up to a place, idle the car and sip your latte while the staff gently and skilfully undid your child's car-seat straps, then brought the child inside to a clean environment replete with diapers, wipes and A&D ointment. No more jamming a stroller into a public restroom! No more trying to hold a child on a changing table with one hand while trying to extract necessities from a diaper bag with the other!
And you should be able watch the whole thing on a monitor.
"They'd have to sanitize their hands," Mom fretted.
They'd plop your clean, lightly scented baby back into your car seat for you, and would coo at your child while they redid the car seat straps -- correctly.
Remember: You read it here first.
"Drive-through workouts," Mom said.
"More kids' party places," I said.
But as Big Big Man pointed out, it's going to be all about convenience. Someone will start offering a service that we all now do ourselves, he said, and then we'll start going there to have it done for us, and pretty soon no one will be doing it at home anymore. BBM suggested baby changing.
"Especially if it were drive-through!" I said. "And especially if they took the kid out of the car seat for you!"
You could drive up to a place, idle the car and sip your latte while the staff gently and skilfully undid your child's car-seat straps, then brought the child inside to a clean environment replete with diapers, wipes and A&D ointment. No more jamming a stroller into a public restroom! No more trying to hold a child on a changing table with one hand while trying to extract necessities from a diaper bag with the other!
And you should be able watch the whole thing on a monitor.
"They'd have to sanitize their hands," Mom fretted.
They'd plop your clean, lightly scented baby back into your car seat for you, and would coo at your child while they redid the car seat straps -- correctly.
Remember: You read it here first.
