For the Future

I was reading some article about a guy who got arrested in California for "being creepy" and something about him hanging around a library and was arrested for talking to a kid because a mom freaked out.

I could go off on a diatribe about how it sucks being male because every mother out there apparently thinks you're out to molest their children no matter who you are or what you look like, but I won't. Okay, I'll say one thing:

Mothers, your children aren't all that amazing. Just like I'd say that not all children are cute and not all children are geniuses - not all children are spectacular enough to become targets for molesters. From what I've read in the newspapers and seen on news footage, most of these kids who get molested are rather decent-looking kids. Odds are that if the other kids in the class don't want to play with your precious child, neither would some molester.

Now that I've got that tidbit of hatred out of the way, I'll attempt to bring you with me on a bumpy train-of-thought that gets me to the REAL point of this post.

Everyone has to wonder for a second what this guy was talking about with this child. Some would think it's evil things, some would think it's harmless things. I try and think about the less-likely possibilities that could ironically twist the situation into the MOTHER being the bad person. (And not just for getting some guy arrested for "being creepy".)

The first thing that pops into my head that fills this situation is: What if this guy is the future version of the kid and he's trying to warn him about something??

In all of the infinite possibilities, you have to include this one. I mean, this information could be the difference between life and death for someone. But if you're the kid - how would you know that this guy really is you from the future? With the internet and the possibility of a real stalker, so much information is already at everyone's fingertips. You can't use trivial things from your life, because who would really remember a triviality at the age of 30 from when they were 8?

The only solution is a keyword or code phrase.

This is a brilliant thing for every person to have, at as early an age as possible. Decide on a keyword or code phrase and NEVER tell it to ANYONE. Don't write it down, don't pick something that anyone could ever string together, and keep it memorized. Then if you ever do meet the future version of yourself, you'll have that failsafe to be certain that it really is you.

I'm making mine right now. Although it sucks that now I can never go back in time to meet myself at an age before 24, since I wouldn't have known my secret phrase back then.

Of course, if I did go back to when I was younger than 24, wouldn't I have experienced it already? I don't ever recall meeting anyone who claimed to be me from the future. So I guess all my bases are covered then...

Have you made your own future-self keyword or code phrase? Is it a good idea? Or are you still too peeved about my tiny remark about how your child isn't worth molesting?