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You're Alright
Monday, Jun. 23, 2003 - 10:58 PM
Yes, so, as promised... children falling down! Mwah ah ah ah ah! Friday night Keri and I went to Red Robin. As we walked toward the door a child of about two or three was doing that thing that only kids can do; you know the one... where it's not quite a run, but their knees are kicking a little higher into the air than they should. Anyway, the boy fell down. ::Smack!:: The man, whom I can only imagine was his father, following him saw this happened and said just loud enough for the boy (a good 5 or 6 feet away) to hear, "You're alright." Do you see what's wrong with that? Do you see which one of those things is not like the others -- which one of those things doesn't belong? The man wasn't close enough to see the child's front. He wasn't close enough to assess the situation. Yet he felt perfectly comfortable in doing so. I think that before you assign a thumb up or down to a situation, it's a good idea to assess it. See if the kid has shards of glass in his hands or blood running from that gaping hole where a tooth used to be before telling him he's alright and there's no need to cry. What if there is in fact a need to cry!? Yet this is the automatic response of every parent to every accident a child has ever been in. (I'm pretty sure it's in the Parent's Handbook.) Next time I see an adult fall down, I'm going to throw them off. "Holy crap! You need to be rushed to the emergency room!"
Speak Up
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