Yes, that WOULD be kind of harsh.

We’re pulling out of the gas-station parking lot and Beanie notices a sign on the wall: NO LOITERING. VIOLATORS WILL BE PROSECUTED.

“Prosecuted?” she says. “Whoa.”

I launch into an explanation of loitering and the reasons a small business, especially one that sells alcohol, might not want people hanging out in the parking lot getting into mischief. Her brow is furrowed—she’s unsatisfied.

“But still. Prosecuted. It seems kind of harsh.”

So I expound upon the criminal justice system: misdemeanors vs. felonies, charges vs. convictions, yadda yadda yadda. A mini-course on the U.S. legal system packed into three minutes of driving time.

“Ohhhh, prosecuted,” Beanie says. “I was thinking executed.”