the daddy code

Fathers carrying their children in a mall occassionally make eye contact with each other.

In that brief moment, much information is exchanged: comparative analysis (my child is bigger/prettier/better outfitted than yours), empathy (I know, my arms are dead tired too), genre classfication (my god, don't they have malls where you live?), and object lust (what is that? where do I get something like that?).

Sometimes, the eyes are just dead.

Zombie fathers staggering forward, child in tow.