Editor's Query

Tell us about a time when a child said something freakishly grown-up

I manage a strip mall in Silver Spring. Maybe because of the dumpsters in the parking lot, people seem to treat it like a junkyard -- they're always coming in the middle of the night and leaving things they no longer want. In my more than 40 years there, I've had to remove hot water tanks, refrigerators, couches, car engines and bags of horse manure, to cite just a few examples.

One day when my son was about 6 years old, I picked him up from day care and drove to the strip mall parking lot. That afternoon, for whatever reason, there was clothing scattered everywhere -- pants, shirts, you name it. Driving around the lot, I was complaining out loud about it, saying that I would have to clean it all up and put it in the dumpster, when my son suddenly piped up.

"Mommy, maybe someone was having sex and threw their clothes out the car window!"

It totally freaked me out.

Ruth Shephard, Silver Spring

>>New query: Tell us about a time when a holiday office party ran memorably amok. If you have a 100 percent true story taken from your own experience concerning the above query, send it to queries@washpost.com or The Washington Post Magazine, 1150 15th St. NW, Washington, D.C. 20071. Include your daytime phone number. Recount your story in 250 words or less. We'll pay you $50 if we use your tale.