Adam's foolish childhood
Adam retells this like a man talking about the foolishness of childhood. He recalls the event slightly embarrassed about his behavior as a child, but he comically plays it off as if he was one of those kids who teased cats or liked to start fires. He doesn't realize that he's retelling an extremely traumatic time in his life.
His mother died when he was about six years old. She used to walk him to school. After she died, he would take his packed lunch and tell his dad, "I'm going to the escalator now." His dad paid no attention to it because he thought it was just a game. Then one day, his father saw what he was doing. He would sit in the front yard staring at the sky. His dad never said anything about it.