From the Mouths of Babes...

Art Linkletter made himself an American icon by interviewing children on television: he asked innocuous questions and waited for the invariable response that would send his audience into fits of laughter. Face it: kids are honest and say exactly what they think without filtering it as adults might be tempted to do. I think it also helped that the kids didn't really know him well enough to be wary. My experiences recently verify that point.
Over the weekend, I spent time with some nieces and nephews in Colorado...children under the age of ten whom I have not seen for a few years. Naturally, there was some roughhousing and rolling around on the floor. At one point, a 6-yr.old looked at me in all seriousness and asked, "Are you an adult?" I had to laugh before admitting that, in fact, I was only an adult "sometimes." The questioning continued with, "Do you drink beer?" I admitted that I did so on occasion, and the conversation ended. I still have no idea what the connection was, and his grandfather (my brother Fred) was equally mystified as to the context.
Today at the stadium, a group of six-year-olds from a YMCA was making the rounds of Lambeau Field. These groups are almost always the most challenging for tour guides since they really don't care about the history information and are generally most impressed with the elevator rides up and down as we move from place to place. As usual, prior to embarking on the actual tour, the rules had to be set down. With groups of children, they usually amount to "stay with your buddy" and "be quiet when I'm talking." As we were walking through the stadium immediately after the rules part, a young girl walked up to me professing the knowledge of yet another rule that had not been mentioned. Of course, I asked her what that might be.
"No farting in public."
Really.
Keeping a straight face was impossible. But then, it IS a good rule.