Zero as a number does not make sense

"Zero as a number does not make sense" said the four year old at the dinner table.  I agreed. "Mum, are we going to be hippies?" said child number one.  I almost passed out.

Hippies...where does this privately-educated-until-six-weeks-ago seven year old hear about hippies?  I've not seen one in this part of London ever.  

So change is in the air, even amongst the children.  

Ok.  Let's say the world is going to be filled with hippies soon.  Hair will grow longer and music will flow.  The freshly unemployed and idle will wile away the days baking bread, reading poetry, planting a vegetable garden...

That all sounds reasonable so far...

But why were there hippies?  Hippies came about after Vietnam.  Hippies hated the government and turned on, tuned in and dropped out.  So, then perhaps I ought to tell my son that yes, now that we have The-Banking-Thing, there will certainly be a resurgence of hippies soon wandering around Dulwich, former home of Margaret Thatcher.  It still seems implausible, but, I've seen a few signs.  Many of the mums have postponed hair colorings as of late and are going brunette.  Homemade chutneys and gifts appeared at Christmas time. Gardens are being planned and bread is being baked.  But I cannot imagine any of them lying in a field, smoking marijuana and staring at the clouds contemplating the phrase "Zero as a number does not make sense".  Yet.