Kindness for Dummies: …or call the police!

I had such an amazing day! I was consistently surrounded by wonderful people who shared so much light with me. My last stop for the day was buying a duffle bag at Ross on my way home at about 9:30pm. I was waiting in a long line of tourists when a little boy in front of me started pointing and teasing me. His Dad immediately told him: “stop being rude or I’ll have to call the police”. It was adorable and admittedly very satisfying to see his demeanor change. I tapped his Mom on the arm and told her I really appreciated that they didn’t ignore me like most parents in Hawaii tend to do when their kids poke fun at me.

She told me that she doesn’t want her children (she was also holding an infant) to be rude to other people. I shared that it was one of very experiences I’ve had where I felt supported in this sort of situation. She seemed surprised and I asked her if she was visiting Hawaii (I went to a Ross store with heavy tourist traffic). She said she was visiting from Sydney, Australia. We briefly discussed our shared love for Tim Tams and said our goodbyes as we reached the cashier.

I was a bit surprised because I’ve heard from several people that Australians are quite the opposite of this lovely family. Although I’ve never visited Australia, I’ve heard so any horror stories of people with disabilities being treated poorly. It made me think about my own impression of Hawaii. I miss California so much my heart hurts. At the same time, there are so many things about Hawaii that I do appreciate. I have a great support system here and it is beautiful (especially the drive out to Kaneohe via Like Like Highway).

Today was filled with beautiful examples of amazing people who reside in Hawaii. I was met with so much kindness and love today. I want to be less sad when I meet ignorant people. I want to be able to more calm. I want to be able to freely accept that someone’s perception of me does not define my value. I’m working on it. It’s also #UnreasonableAF to expect someone to accept shitty treatment. There’s a balance. I don’t know what it is, but I imagine it’s somewhere along the lines of “don’t be an asshole”.

The next time someone treats me like shit, I’m going to call the police on their dummy ass! Love and cuddles!