Sitting in a Cafeteria

Monday evening we tried out a recently-opened cafeteria-style restaurant in a shopping mall near our home in the Hui Shan District of Wuxi, China.  The food wasn't nothing special.  However, two sights will stick in my memory from the visit:

• I stared at a poster of Comrade Mao Zedong.  I could read the Chinese characters under his photo, I thought to myself.  I then wondered if we had to pay for the meal.
• Tony saw a kiddie train ride in the plaza square outside the restaurant.  First, Tony stood on his chair to get a better look.  I knew right then that we would eventually have to pay for a kiddie train ride.  I observed Tony slowly but surely drift toward the restaurant's exit and closer to the kiddie ride.  Three times he went to the exit, and came back.  One time, I could see him struggling with himself.  It turned out that he was summoning courage.  At last, he bolted and ran across the plaza and got on one of the three kiddie train cars.  I could see the attendants looking around and wondering where his parents were so they could pay.  Tony's mother Jenny said Tony was being sneaky.  I don't know if he was sneaky but he was obeying his immediate desires.  I never forget watching the sprint to the kiddie ride.  It was amazing.  I could imagine the shock of the people already by the kiddie ride.  It must have had an effect on them like an ambush.