Having a Voice

"A riot is the language of the unheard." Martin Luther King, Jr.

He was trying desperately to get her attention. He started out calm and reasonable. "Mommy." Then it became, "Mommy Mommy Mommy Mommy Mommy Mommy!" She was busy perusing the shopping aisle. The more he was ignored, the louder he became. "MOMMY MOMMY MOMMY MOMMY MOMMY MOMMY MOMMY!" I silently willed her to answer the poor kid. He became more agitated, and then melted down as only a frustrated three-year-old can do. That got her attention, but not in a good way. She met his frustration with her own frustration, and soon they were out the door of the store, her pushing the shopping cart fast and furious. Maybe if she would have just answered him the first time...

I know it takes a lot of patience to deal with small children, with their chatter and their questions, especially if we are the primary caregivers, as this mother might have been. Maybe she had to tune him out just to maintain her own sanity, but didn't that little guy deserve to be heard? I'm not advocating teaching kids that they are the center of the universe, but should they have to raise a riot to be heard?

But enough about other people. I have to wonder about my own day to day and the people who talk to me. Do I tune them out, perhaps not as blatantly as that mom did with her son, but could it be that a dismissive attitude is sometimes underneath my polite smile and adequate eye contact? Each one of us should feel we have a voice, that we are valued and respected enough as human beings to be heard. To be denied that brings about anger and frustration, as that little boy so vividly illustrated. I hope I am not so busy with my own life and my own stuff that I would deny the people around me their right to be heard.

Susan