It amazes me with the way some pass judgment on someone or a situation when they are on the outside looking in. I am sure there are many cases where this is understood because at some point it happens to everyone. We would love to call these bystanders stupid or something similar, but is simply the lack of knowledge that causes these events to happen. It reminds me of the old saying. “Believe nothing you hear and only half of what you see. Sometimes what you see might not be what it looks like.” ....
It is frustrating to be on the inside and know what others presume they know what is going on and when they open their mouths it is everything but what is really going on. It also takes very little to start riots and such over something controversial. At times it has been at the expense of someone’s life. It can be based on fear and the lack of knowledge that leads people down the paths that happen in these cases. Take the Salem Witch trials. People were persecuted, hung by the neck till dead, because of fear. There are times when someone gains knowledge based on public opinion, hence the part about believing nothing you hear. Knowledge is gained mostly from experience. Sometimes that personal experience cannot be gained simply by going through something similar. No two situations are the same as no two people are the same. The outsider and the insider get to a standstill. Where do you go from there? The outsider believes what they think, and leaves the insider frustrated because they know the truth of the situation. The only option is for the insider to tell them what is happening or going on. Then you realize as the insider that the outsider so firmly believes that they will not listen. It boils down to one thing. You would have to walk in the shoes of the insider to know just what is happening. You have to feel, not just see.
An example of the believing only half of what you see.
We took my son to Best Buy one evening to pick up a TV. He has a form of Autism called Asperger’s. He shows no outward and common Autistic traits like non-verbal, hand flapping, rocking. He has extremely keen hearing, like canines. (He can hear a silent whistle). While we were in there he put his hands over his ears and proceeded to scream. He shook his head back and forth then started to cry and kick out at us. We had to take him out of the store. People were staring at us and shaking their heads. Some even went as far as to say that he needs discipline for his tantrum, from what they assumed was from him not getting his way. As soon as we step out the door of Best Buy he calmed down.
From the inside view; radios and TVs give off frequencies. It is similar to the ringing in your ears that can occur at times. Most cannot hear this but he can. There was a lot of that in the store from all the displays there. He covered his ears to block it, which did not work, so he started screaming to block it. That did not work and he had what was called a sensory overload. The sound was painful and because he did not know the source he lashed out at us and became inconsolable. Once he was removed from the situation and the noise was gone, he calmed down.
From the outside: “The lack of knowledge”. He appears to be a normal (based on a majority over the minority of what is considered normal) and healthy child. He had a tantrum and was seen as a bad, ill behaved and undisciplined child. We were seen as parents that catered to his whim, and did not reprimand him.
No comments:
Post a Comment