Pages

Friday, August 22, 2008

Niffer's Bubble

I had my little bubble that I lived in popped today. Or at least temporarily so.

I lost my cell phone at work yesterday, which drove me crazy because it wasn't like I to go a lot of different areas at work. I'm at my desk, in the lab, or in the bathroom. Anyway, today Michael discovered that it was used to call a couple numbers yesterday afternoon. When he tried to call those numbers, someone answered in Spanish. Now I don't want to point fingers, but since the bathroom is where I originally thought I left it, I can't help but assume the cleaning lady took it.

At this point, I have deactivated the phone and so it is useless to whoever has it. I hope that means it will be turned into lost and found, but who am I kidding? If you stole something and then it became useless, what would you do? I think I'd toss it in the trash. Get rid of any evidence.

Beyond the obvious annoyance on dealing with the numbers and pictures I've lost, I'm finding myself quite disappointed. I am one of those people who typically assumes the best in people. I tend to give someone my respect as soon as I meet them. They don't have to prove to me that they are a good person. In fact, it usually takes a lot to convince me they're not.

So when I'm experiencing something like this, it makes my heart hurt. I try to see the best in people and treat them like I would like to be treated. And stealing from someone is definitely not something I would ever consider doing. Period.

Yet I still find myself hoping that they have a good heart. Maybe they can't afford a phone themselves. Who can blame them for wanting one? Maybe now that it's useless to them, they will do the right thing and turn it in to lost and found. They are good people too, right? I certainly hope so because if they don't then I will find myself giving the cleaning lady the evil eye for quite some time!

Sometimes I find it hard to not get discouraged about the world that I'm raising my daughter in. My friend just posted about how her son can't give hugs at school because PDAs aren't allowed. People steal. People hurt others. People lie. People cheat. I hope that I can still manage to show Ellie that the world is good and that people are good, but I do wonder at what point will she learn that not everyone is nice? When will her perfect little, innocent bubble pop? And will I be present to offer a bandaid to help it heal?

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

Aw. Sweet post, your thoughts about humanity and how it will all play out for Ellie. I'm sorry about your cell, that sucks!

Do you remember when your bubble burst?

I think mine was when some school kids weren't so nice to me in first grade. I wonder how I'd advise my kids to handle that now, if I'd had any and if they were entering school. Despite turning several scenarios over and over in my head, I am still not sure what's best.

Anonymous said...

btw, am looking for your Europe photos, where are they?

Niffer said...

The photos on the right-hand side under "Treasure Hunting" are mostly Europe pictures.

Niffer said...

Mine I think was in 2nd grade, I wrote a poem about the boy I had a crush on. His name was Darren but I spelled it Derin because it rhymed with my sister's name. Anyway, my best friend, Becky ended up showing the poem to Darren and I was mortified. I didn't have many friends when I was younger because I went to years of speech therapy and the other kids couldn't understand me. I was so hurt by Becky and so embarrassed to be around Darren after that.

Anonymous said...

The "no PDA" nonsense drives me nuts. You can't hug someone, you can't give them an aspirin. What's next - nobody can take a picture with a cell phone without a release form? Or you'll need a transfer of property form to give someone a pen?

I think that we are teaching kids that adults (or maybe institutions) cannot make reasonable decisions. Of course, my generation knew this when we were growing up - every generation does. It's just a different kind of unreasonableness for every age.

Niffer said...

I went to a daycare meeting last night where parents can express their concerns with the teachers there and such. Overall it was a decent meeting. However, one thing that I learned was that they really try to emphasize empathy. They strive to get the children to give each other hugs when they're hurt or when they need to say "I'm sorry." I was so relieved to hear that because I think it's so important! The world is a better place with hugs.