Hi, do you have a minute for 'Save the Children'? asks the idealistic activist on the street as I pass by, pretending to ignore her. Sometimes I just say, "No, sorry," and sometimes I move to one edge of the sidewalk or the other, as far away from her as possible, hoping that she'll accost somebody closer. But I wonder what would happen if:

Her: Hi, do you have a minute for 'Save the Children'?

Me: Yes, but I don't want to save the children. I don't like kids.

And I keep walking.

That's the thing about kids — tell people you can't stand the little snot-nosed bastards and they give you this blank does-not-compute stare as if thanks to my disgust for kids, the terrorists have already won. Truth is, only thing worse than kids: their parents.