Today I had to have a talk with that kid I watch on Saturdays, regarding why people do bad things to each other. He was curious because earlier this week he, and every other kid on his school bus, got to watch as an suv dragging a Black man along the pavement from the rear passenger door drove past them. The Black man in question ended up dead a couple of blocks away after he either pulled free or was thrown free, and crashed through a fence in somebody's yard.
The kid reports that the man's clothes were tearing off and that he was bleeding everywhere. I explained to him that people just do nasty things, and if you get a group of them together they do them to each other. Furthermore, the two worst things in the world that a person can be are stupid and cruel, and that he should do everything he can to avoid being those two things. God knows the world has enough people in it who are happy and proud to be both. Then I closed with that nugget of wisdom from Mr. Rogers about looking for the helpers if ever the news upsets or scares you.
The kid seemed satisfied and now, fortified with chicken nuggets, he is presently throwing a basketball more or less in the general direction of a basketball hoop and will continue to do so for the next five hours with undiminished enthusiasm. Me? I'm considerably less satisfied. I mean, seriously... What kind of a fucking awful world are we living in?
The kid reports that the man's clothes were tearing off and that he was bleeding everywhere. I explained to him that people just do nasty things, and if you get a group of them together they do them to each other. Furthermore, the two worst things in the world that a person can be are stupid and cruel, and that he should do everything he can to avoid being those two things. God knows the world has enough people in it who are happy and proud to be both. Then I closed with that nugget of wisdom from Mr. Rogers about looking for the helpers if ever the news upsets or scares you.
The kid seemed satisfied and now, fortified with chicken nuggets, he is presently throwing a basketball more or less in the general direction of a basketball hoop and will continue to do so for the next five hours with undiminished enthusiasm. Me? I'm considerably less satisfied. I mean, seriously... What kind of a fucking awful world are we living in?
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