Linda's ECE World

Happy Valentines Day

Well this week we were to think of a time when we  or perhaps our child said something that was bias toward someone.  Hummmmmmmmmm  I have thought and thought can't think of an incident.
What you say all kids to this at least once!!!
Well maybe not all kids.
Here is what I came up with.
I was raised during a tumultuous time in the USA the 1950"s ad 60's.  However I was exposed by default to many kinds of people.
I was around many different kinds of people and I have always thought difference was fascinating.
Here's how it went.
I had two grandmothers who had heart conditions and were elderly when I was born.  (My parents got a late start.)  One of my grandmothers wore coke bottle bottoms for glasses. That is an idiom) She couldn't see very well due to cataracts.  She used a magnifying glass to read with.
I was around people in my family who lived in poverty. I mean dirt poor and my dad was the only one to have graduated high school.
I was exposed to Black people through the family who share cropped my Grand Mother's farm in South Carolina.
I was exposed to Mexican people through going to the Mission Church my home church sponsored  in my hometown.
I was exposed to Native American through going to live on a reservation for a summer while my dad worked there.
I was exposed to a different religion through there being a large Mormon population in and around the place I lived.  
I was exposed to children with Developmental Disabilities because of the little girl in my neighborhood that I played with and there was the State School for DD children in my town and we went there to sing Christmas Carols and made tray favors as projects in Girl Scouts and church groups I belonged to.
In my part of Colorado everyone was from some place else.  Not very many "natives" like myself and my dad around.  The family down the street was from South Dakota, and had an accent when they spoke.   My mother was from South Carolina.
Mom and I took the train every year to South Carolina to see her family.  There were always someone to watch and talk to on the train.  I was one of those kids who never knew a stranger. So I talked to everyone I came across.
When we were in Oklahoma City for my dad to go to school I got very sick and was in the ER waiting my turn.  Mom and dad were very worried.  An Osage (Native American) man came in with a knife wound in his belly.  I was crying and he talked to me the whole time.  We were put in rooms with just a curtain between us  and while the doctor looked at me he kept talking to me telling me it was going to be OK and that both of us would get better.  Not to be afraid.  We left before they were done stitching him up but I will never for get that.  He was brave and helped me to be brave too.
In college I got balled out by Roman Gabriel and famous Native American football player.
Guess it takes all kinds.
My children didn't get to have the variety of experience I had but they knew that to be rude to anyone because of appearance or status or intelligence just was not acceptable.  While they were allowed to ask questions at home about things or people they never within my hearing asked rude questions or made rude remarks.  I guess I did something right.

Thanks fro dropping by
Peace and all good