Born Blind to the Ways of Mankind

I was at a local Korean shopping market, that some people may know as H-Mart or Han-ah Reum, while visiting my brother and his wife's home. The parking lot was pretty packed and people were coming in and out with their fresh groceries; it was a pleasant sight to see people going through the daily motions of life. I was outside having a smoke, I know its a really bad habit so please don't get me started on that, sitting down on the yellow painted curb, watching the seagulls and tiny little birds flying in and out of formation in the cloudless, blue skies, and I noticed a familiar, yet heartbreaking noise to my right. I turn my head to the right and I saw a little child, wearing his spiffy cyan blue polo and sporting a bowl cut with his hair just over his eyebrows like I had as a child and grew to abhor, with his mother coming out of the market with a cart of groceries.

This little child was trying to help push the cart for his mother. Apparently, the child was not pushing the cart correctly and getting in the way of the mother. She was chiding him and threatened to hit him, and told him how much he stressed her out whenever they went out together.

The look on the child was absolutely heartbreaking, which led my eyes to tear. His face was a hapless mix of confusion, fear, and shame; emotions that a child that wanted to help and please his mother should never feel. I, having the macho male ego, brushed those tears aside before anyone could notice, yet the look on the child's innocent face imprinted in my mind like the tears that stained my hoody. I wanted to ask the mother why she would threaten to hit her child like that for such a trivial matter. It was as if the child's pure intentions were not good enough, the mother wanted the child to grow up faster, and expected more from a five year old child. Yet, I did not step in as I did not want to start a scene in public, especially after I had the thought that the mother must have had a long day or something.

You know what I think though? I think the child would have stepped in and defended his mother if I had addressed her.

This little experience leads me to these questions: Why does the world dictate that children should stop being children? How did we get to be so cold? Why can't we be adults, in the context of handling daily responsibilities, and have the heart of children? When did we delude ourselves into thinking that the physical is all that matters?

Poor kid, my mom was mega jerk too, still is actually.

Originally posted by DelayedChristmas


This little experience leads me to these questions: Why does the world dictate that children should stop being children? How did we get to be so cold? Why can't we be adults, in the context of handling daily responsibilities, and have the heart of children? When did we delude ourselves into thinking that the physical is all that matters?

The world dictates that we should stop being children as soon as possible to avoid being an inconvenience and/or monetary drain on our parents and public services, i.e. school.

We all should be, as you describe, adults with the hearts of children. But the world is not built for such people. To succeed in the world today, you cannot be impeded by such things as feelings and common decency.

And we deluded ourselves into thinking that the physical was all that mattered when we first learned that we are all going to die one day.

As you can see, I have given some thought to these questions before.

reply to post by SpiritofEnoch

To succeed in the world today, you cannot be impeded by such things as feelings and common decency.

This I agree with.
It has been said that a man cannot be a friend to both God and to the world.