HAPPY VALENTINES EVERYONE!!

“The deeds you do may be the only sermon some persons will hear today” –― St. Francis Of Assisi

Yesterday, as I was walking to work, I see a man turn a corner, running and screaming towards a school bus. A little boy of around 6 years of age is running behind him.

He is screaming at the top of his lungs at the bus driver while waving his phone.  He is yelling: “7:14 now, not 7:15.”   I am guessing the bus is supposed to leave at 7:15am, and it was leaving a minute early.

I recognize the boy.  I always see him standing with his mother at the corner.  I notice them because the mother is always speaking Portuguese to him.  I assume she is Brazilian. I think to myself: The mother manages to be there early everyday.

“Knowing when to fight is just as important as knowing how.” ― Terry Goodkind, Faith of the Fallen

This man is so furious, it is scary.  I am hyper alert now, thinking that I may have to end up calling the police.  Confrontations such as these always terrifies me.  When people can’t control their temper, anything can happen.

I, and some others walking by, slowed down to watch this unfold.

I am glad the female bus driver didn’t engage. I see that she attempted to say something but he was too loud and too furious to hear anything, so she gave up.

The boy got in the bus and walked to his seat.  The driver closed the bus door and proceeded to leave.  The man, still mumbling some choice words, walks along the bus to where the boy was sitting.  He hits on the window, waves and yells “I love you” to the boy.

“Instruction is good for a child; but example is worth more.” – ― Alexandre Dumas, Twenty Years After

Is he serious?  After such a neanderthal display, he thinks that saying I love you will erase how he just behaved.  Or perhaps, even worst, he didn’t even realize what he just did.

He may or may not have been right about the bus schedule, but nothing gives him the right to act in such a way.  Doesn’t he realize the scene he caused? Doesn’t he realize what he is teaching his child?

Is he that way inside his home? With the wife? With the kid?  I cannot picture this man being able to have a civil disagreement.

So many men, and women, are so ill prepared to be parents. Actually, so many people seem ill-prepared to live in society.

“If behavior is contagious, is yours worth catching?” ― Frank Sonnenberg, The Path to a Meaningful Life

I understand the aggravations of the day to day.  I understand bad mornings, but have a little more control of yourself, for the sake of your child and everyone in earshot.

I wish I would have said something, but I was afraid.  This man was so mad it looked like he was going to punch someone.  I am not about to risk my life, unless I really have to.

Parents, don’t just say I love you, show it.  Show love by the way you interact with others.  Show love by respecting others.  The children are our future, we can’t afford to have them think that this is acceptable behavior.

I know I am being judgmental, but watching this yesterday morning really shook me.  This man disturbed my peace, and that of others around.  I felt for the driver.  I also made me realize how easy  “I love yous” are thrown around as bandaids, pacifiers, rewards, weapons, etc.”

“Peace does not mean an absence of conflicts; differences will always be there. Peace means solving these differences through peaceful means; through dialogue, education, knowledge; and through humane ways.” ― Dalai Lama XIV