sign of the times

out walking on a beautiful autumn day, when the munchkin asks me "why are these boys being bad guys"?

a couple of pre-teen boys are clambering around a white SUV. The boy I see first has a "realistic" toy M-16, black t-shirt and wrap around sunglasses, the other, pushed into the back of the SUV, has a bandana over his face and is being pushed, hit and shot (in play, not for real).
As we get closer, I realise: they are playing "blackwater and iraqis"...