I sometimes wish there were a way for there not to be so much separation between people. By separation, I mean between people that generally share the same culture but are different otherwise. For example, the separation between hearing and deaf. If things were up to me, everyone would know ASL and communication would be so much less of a problem. But when there is something different, people dont know how to respond. Hearing people dont know how to respond to the deaf and generally vice versa. But there are other cases too. My brother is special needs and we always would have people coming up to us and telling us what we should be doing. But they have no idea. And so we (my family) grow prejudiced against them and they just dont understand why we get upset. My boss at work actually told me that she would love to have a special needs child...but she doesnt know what that even means in her life. My brother will never be self reliant and we are constantly fighting to get him into the few programs available to him. But I can see how these people who think they know better are just trying to help. I get it. I cant expect everyone to be knowledgeable about things they've never dealt with before. And they are trying to help which I guess is a nice gesture.
I think we all need to give a little and learn that if you dont know where someone has been or the miles theyve walked, just listen. Dont expect them to know your journey or how to react to it just as much as you dont know theirs. If we take the time to realize that most of us are trying to meet in the middle and take the time to learn about each other instead of automatically being on guard...maybe we will find that middle. Wishful, wishful thinking, I know. But I had to say something...I just feel so sad about the state of the world today.
I think we all need to give a little and learn that if you dont know where someone has been or the miles theyve walked, just listen. Dont expect them to know your journey or how to react to it just as much as you dont know theirs. If we take the time to realize that most of us are trying to meet in the middle and take the time to learn about each other instead of automatically being on guard...maybe we will find that middle. Wishful, wishful thinking, I know. But I had to say something...I just feel so sad about the state of the world today.