Inner City Slickers

What would it take today for you to go up to someone you don’t know and ask them if there was anything you could do to make their life better?
They probably would look at you in disbelief and walk away or just say “No” and give you some kind of strange look. They most likely would question your motives; think that you were some kind of nut and/or a person who might harm them. FEAR, right? Yes, there is always the exception, but typically this is how it would probably go down.
I remember when I was much younger I walked up to a child, oh she was about 8 or 9. We were at an amusement park and she was having the time of her life. I told her how cute she was and we started talking about the different rides. I had very long hair at the time and was dressed like I just came from a Love In. Her father rushed up, grabbed her and told me to stop talking to his daughter. He feared for his daughter’s safety. NO TRUST.

Well why should he trust me? He didn’t know me. He didn’t know who I was. I looked like some reject from hippie land and just last week a young girl was found dead in a nearby alley. FEAR- AGAIN NO TRUST.

So how do we Trust when so many times that Trust has been broken and how do we do away with the prejudice, the prejudging, that goes on behind the scenes when we see someone “a little strange a little different” and we automatically assume that they are this way or that way?

How does a child know who or even How to Trust? Do they adhere to the old saying… Never talk to Strangers? How do they learn a healthy way of dealing with people they don’t know? How do you teach a child when to Trust and when not to Trust?

Each circumstance of course is different and each person, each child, has their own way of dealing with trust and dealing with their own thoughts and concerns.

I ask myself this question all the time. This is what I have come up with.

As adults we first have to be aware of our own “knee jerk” reactions when it comes to folks we don’t know: our own “built in” protection mechanisms if you will.

We first have to look at ourselves and see What is really There. This has to be done in a non-judgmental way. If we start judging our predispositions we won’t want to see the “bad” things. So by not judging them, we are more able to see WHAT’S THERE, how we REALLY feel about this situation, not some Past situation. After we have a good read on what’s going on with us, only then can we make the better choice, the choice that fits the situation. We learn to override the “knee jerk” reactions and hopefully make the appropriate choice for the MOMENT, i.e. “ Oh my God, he looks like a dirty hippy. He must be doing drugs and breaking the law”, to “Oh what a surprise, he is intelligent, kind, respectful and I like him”. Sounds simple but it’s not. It takes AWARENESS.

As far as the kids…………….bottom line?
THE CHILDREN LEARN FROM US