The alien cry...

Today in the writing lab, someone had their child with them. Probably only two or three years old. This fact was unknown to probably everyone in the room, including myself. Unknown until this small child fell out of her chair. It wasn't a long fall, and it wasn't hard, but as children do, she cried after hitting the ground. This cry was calmed quickly by the loving caress of her mother accompanied with soothing words of comfort... The only reason I am writing about this, and the reason for the name of the this blog entry is everyone in the room looked about when the cry began. Almost like they had never heard the cry of a child. Students had the look of concern on their faces, not annoyance like I'd actually expect to find. Several students took off their earphones, the permanent fixture to one's head anymore... They removed these earphones and listened... listened to the soft quiet howl of this child in need, almost looking on in awe. If nothing else, it's the sound not heard often on the campus of a University. Maybe that's the only reason people looked on with such intent. However it made me think of the future of mankind... Will there be a day when the cry of a child is truly alien? When will this happen? Will it be global in effect? I know some places in Europe like Italy where the death rate outweighs the birth rate.. is this cry already alien to them? Something to think about.