At the center of Mister Rogers cheery songs and smiles lies a God-ordained mission to children. The man didn t ask because he wanted to be a neighbor, but because he wanted to find a loophole around being a neighbor.
Grownups tend do that.
Something else grownups tend to do these days is yank children into the adult world. Whether putting them on schedules as demanding as those of company presidents, dressing them up as beauty queens, leaving them all day under the eye of someone who doesn t love them like a parent, or simply surrendering their souls to the television, many grownups leave children in a disorienting world with nary an adult hand to guide them. One grownup, however, has been an abiding adult presence for children for over three decades. He calls himself a neighbor. Many grownups scratch their heads at the power this man has over their children.