"I'm Hooked and I can't Stop Staring"

"I'm Hooked and I can't Stop Staring Deep in. . ." Okay, I will not sing or rap you old Sir Mix A Lot tunes (not unless you ask anyway). My mind works in mysterious ways. How do I go from Sir Mix A Lot to a deeper issue many handicapped people face every day? Not sure but let's go with it. I talk about my first day in the public schools fairly early on in my book. My fellow students stared at me like I was something (not someone) from outer space. At the time, I thought it was just because I was the new guy. Later on in life, I realized we were all new. They were staring because I was put together different. The good thing is, this did not last long. I soon melted into the class as just another student. But the staring continued. Kids from other classes looked as me much the same way and in time, this also faded as I melted into the student body. In our culture, no one likes to be stared at. It is okay to look at a beautiful woman (Or guy depending on where you are coming from) but not long enough to make them uncomfortable. Young children are often not taught this rule and don't know any better. I admit it took me a long time to come to terms with this. For most of my life, I've always been uncomfortable around little kids for this reason. It is only in the last five to ten years I've come to a better understanding of this phenomenon. It may or may not be correct but it is the story / explanation I tell myself. Little kids are free from inhibitions and also very curious about the world around them. When they see something different or unusual, they check it out. It come natural. This light bulb going on awhile back has helped me a lot. Young children looking at me perhaps longer than they should, now bothers me much less than it used to. I would be bullshitting you an myself if I said It does not bother me at all any more. So how do I deal with it?

I usually take the most common way out and ignore it, conflict avoidance. Sometimes I'll use humor or simply say hello. Speaking usually seems to break the spell. Often, the parent or guardian puts an end to it before I say or do anything. There is no need for scolding a child for doing something that comes natural. I like it better when parents simply remind their kids it is not nice to stare at people. I'm not the religious type but when they say something like "God puts people together in many different ways." I think it is cool. My hope is this will be the beginning of understanding we are different and differences are okay. To ignore the behavior is doing the kid a disservice. I too should not ignore it as much as I do. Taking a moment to speak may make a nice difference. I've seen other handicapped people respond aggressively, staring back and or asking "What are you lookin at?" I don't want to become childish myself much less cause a scene. I think a more calm approach works best. But there is one thing even worse than the blank stare of kids.

Not too often, really old people will do the same staring shit and they should know better. Now, I'll stare back at them and they get the message what they are doing is unccol. One old lady giving me the evil eye told her grandson (I guess) I had muscular dystrophy as if she was an MD talking about a museum piece. I did my avoidance thing and let it go. Pointing out to the same kid here was an old lady with chronic senile dementia just did not seen like it would be helpful and I being much younger would have then become the asshole in this drab performance. I'm still glad it let it go. Thank goodness this does not happen often. I'm still unsure how to deal with very old people eye-balling me. Leave them alone I guess.