A middle aged white woman was smiling at the camera. “I want my little ones to get all the nutrition their growing bodies need. But there are so many brands out there that just can’t deliver. That’s why I stick with the tried and true company for babies’ dietary needs, Gerber’s,” the woman enthused. The scene shifted and now the woman was seen standing in a kitchen with a lanky teen boy sat in a huge high-chair before her. The boy was dressed in nothing but a puffy white diaper, grinning ear to ear and banging his hands on the tray as the woman spooned gooky yellow stuff into his open mouth. An announcer’s voice explained that Gerber’s Growing Bodies products were specially designed for infants aged 12 to 15 years old.
“Ugh!” Megan moaned, switching channels.
A diaper ad appeared on the screen next. Now two older teens, one girl and one boy, were pictured lying on their backs on a soft white carpet dressed only in disposable diapers, giggling and peddling their legs in the air while a graphic showed the stretchiness of the diaper.
Megan turned the TV back off in exasperation. Just then Mommy hurried back into the room and scooped Sue out of her swing. “Okay Meggy, Mommy needs to give Susie her bathie, then it will be your turn. Be a good girl and stay in the living room for me.”
Megan nodded and watched her mother disappear with Sue riding on her hip. Now there really was nothing to do. She feared her mind would eventually turn to mush just like Sue’s if she didn’t find something to occupy her. Sitting down on the floor she gave serious thought to giving in and playing with the Lego blocks. Maybe she could build a pretend city or something.
By chance she glanced over at her mother’s bag, lying on its side on the carpet nearby. Among the possessions visible there was a book, a black leather bound book. Megan crept across the floor to the bag and reached inside. As she drew her hand back out she got a feeling of elation for the first time tonight. It was Catcher in the Rye.