Friday, November 21, 2008

Right Thing

I am not sure if it was the right thing to do, but I did it and if the situation happened I would probably do it again.
Here it is:
We were in the mall tonight celebrating Elizabeth's 2nd birthday! Daddy just took Claire to change her and Lizzie and I were enjoying ice cream. Next to us were a group of three or four 12-14 year olds. Two girls walked by and one of the girls said" Nice hair, not, ha, ha" And all 4 proceeded to laugh. It made me angry. I went over to the girl who said it and said, "you did not have to be mean, some day you learn that it is not nice to be mean to people." She said, "I wasn't." I told her. "Don't lie to me, I just saw you make fun of that girls hair. Someday when you grow up you will regret it. It probably really hurt that girls feelings." "I am sorry." She said. "Don't apologize to me, you should apologize to that girl you made fun of." Now the rest of the time her and her friends sat there. they whispered and gave me dirty looks. When the got up to leave, I said, "If you have something to say to me you can come over and say it." They did not. I am not sure if it did any good, but I hope that girl and maybe her friends will think twice before making fun of someone again. I know where my anger stems from. From years of being teased as a kid. The funny thing is I saw one of the girls who teased me heavily in junior high a few years back. She gained about 75 pounds since then. Inside I was happy. I should not have been. Or maybe it was not me being mean towards her, just maybe it was a feeling of happiness because maybe now she feels what I felt being teased as a kid. Not that I wish that upon anyone, but I want for the ones who tease to understand that it hurts. To understand that we all have flaws and some people have a whole lot more when they are 12. I still remember being 12 or 13 and walking on the bus to taunts from girls, "Look how ugly she is, look at her makeup." The girl I saw who gained the weight was the one leading that group. The thing is now I would never call her ugly. Not in a million years. In fact if we were to become friends I would probably tell her how pretty she is. Not that I am anything good. Not that I am any less sinful or wretched, but I think that having survived years of hurt makes me more sensitive to the hurts of others. I hope for my girls that they do not have to endure the teasing that I did as a kid, but I hope for the sake of their own hearts that they are sensitive to others. If my kids ever tease someone like that I pray that I find out, so I can beat them. And maybe they will not have to gain 75 pounds to know how it feels to hurt. Maybe they can learn from a young age to seek out the outcast and broken. Is that not what Jesus did? I pray that I do that and my kids as well.

3 comments:

becky66 said...

Jessica I am soo proud of you!! That took alot of courage to stand up for that little girl. When you become a mommy the whole world changes in your eyes and you have a need to protect all. Good for you! I love you....aunt becky

KayMac said...

You WILL be able to teach your girls to be sensitive to others...and they will be the hands that reach out to comfort when a heart is broken.

Margie said...

you did the right thing!!

I hate (yes, I know that's a strong word) when kids make fun of other kids! oh it makes me crazy!!