Another washroom encounter, this time in a family restaurant.  At
first I thought I was alone in the washroom... but when I pushed the door
open on one of the stalls I saw that it was already occupied by a girl whom
I'd guess to be about four years old.  I excused myself & went to
another stall.  Later, when I was standing by the sink, the girl emerged. 
As a former schoolteacher & mother of a handicapped kid, I soon noticed
that she couldn't reach the soap dispenser & didn't understand how it
worked... so I helped her.  Meanwhile, another woman came in &
harrumphed about how someone had neglected to flush the toilet... the same
kid, perchance?  The thought occurred to me that maybe she didn't know how
to lock the door of the cubicle or flush the toilet either, but I said
nothing.

        The girl followed me out to the hall, where a woman who might have
been her grandmother was waiting.  This woman asked "Did you wash your
hands?  I can tell, you know!  Yes... that's better."  The girl hadn't
said a word during any of the above events.  I was tempted to point out
that she needed some help & to ask "Granny" what *she* was
doing at the time, but again I said nothing because I didn't know whose
idea it was.  If the kid wanted to go by herself in a place she was
unfamiliar with I'd take it to be an emerging skill... allow a generous
margin for error... and refrain from interfering while "Granny"
praised her for washing her hands.  OTOH, if it was "Granny's"
idea I think I know what she was trying to teach the kid.  But what was she
teaching her, really... that success depends not on one's own efforts but
on chance & on the kindness of strangers?? That consideration for other
folks sharing the same space is irrelevant... that what counts is making
oneself look good??  One has to wonder sometimes....  :-/




--- timEd/386 1.10.y2k+