Domo origato mister roboto

Today I write from the hot and humid Tokyo airport as I await my flight to Singapore. Nearby is a young mother with what appears to be two young boys maybe two years old. The kids are two and are behaving just as a two year olds behave...see below:

• limited attention span
• look for things to do when they are bored
• hit each other repeatedly

ok, maybe the last bullet point is not typical, but it wasn't too long into their predictable behavior that mom starts freaking out at them when one of the kids spills his drink on the airport carpet. Mom starts freaking out at them...curses, yells, hits one of them...then the phrase that says it all, " I can't take you guys anywhere!" Poor kids are two years into life and have to deal with that? Come on!

I was a bit embarrassed to be witness to such a spectacle, but I'm tethered to my power cord as I write this, and the carpet where the kids are laying is right on top of my cord. Literally, right on top of my cord...like between my and the power outlet is my power cord and these kids are laying on it watching a movie on their mom's brand new portable dvd player.

So I'm not so sure how to play this...do I ever so nonchalantly slowly pull my cord and slide it towards me until it unplugs from the wall and then move away? I can be crafty and subtle in my approach...until the cord pops out of the wall and slaps one of the kids in the face. Ok, bad plan.

Next idea would be to ditch the cord and run...but I can't do that since I need the cord in Singapore...tempting as that idea is.

Currently, I'm just waiting it out. I'm pretty much all by myself in this corner of the airport (with the exception of the mom and her two kids) because everyone else that was sitting over here walked away when the mom started going rambo on the kids. So it's me against them...I'm not moving until they do. Or if my plane starts boarding. Then I'm out. Or if I get too hungry to wait to the point that my stomach starts growling something fierce. Then I'm out. That is my plan.

Ok, the kids are bored with the movie again and are finding things to keep them busy while mom is doing whatever she is doing in front of her computer. Wait for it...wait for it...here it comes..."IF YOU TWO DON'T SIT DOWN!!!..." Ah, the empty threat tactic. Oh wait, now it's "If you don't sit down we're going to go home." Hmmm, and waste the tickets? Oh man, now the kid is crying because the other kid hit him. Mom's not doing anything...just sitting at her computer.

I want to go home and love my kids. :-(