She's crying. I'm not sure why, but I want to stop her pain. Is she uncomfortable? Is she missing something or someone? Is she hungry or just lacking affection? The tears continue to drench her innocent cheeks and I haven't made a move. I'm still standing here, staring into the pain that is clouding her sweet eyes and I haven't done a thing. I am watching from a distance and refuse to get involved. It's not my problem. Besides, someone else will help her, why does it have to be me?
My mom once told me that there would come a time in the world where evil will multiply and good will be less likely to prevail. I would hear this time and time again and I never thought that I would ever see the day. I refused to play a part in that. I would always be me and have an open heart for the world. Let me tell you that not only have I seen the day, but I have also hidden my goodwill in a safe and it's under a massive security lock down. I caved. The world finally conquered me, or did it?
I spent last week in Orlando. I did a little shopping and hung out with my Boobie. We also vistited Mickey. (SN:How can you go to Orlando without visiting Mickey Mouse???) As we are strolling (more like speed walking and trying to get around the multitude of kids to get to the Haunted Mansion, I'm such a kid!) through Magic Kingdom, I see a little boy out of the corner of my eyes crying hysterically. What's my first thought? Well, of course he's coming out of a candy store and I'm thinking that he wanted something and his parents said no. Economy is tough and Mickey hasn't lowered his prices!
As I get closer, I realize it's not that he is being a brat but that he is lost. Instantly, my heart broke. I can't tell you how many people passed by this crying child, a desperate child building trauma and scared out of his mind, and no one stopped. Not once person took a detour for the well being of another human being. Not even the employee standing at the door. She even looked at me and smiled, but just stood there and ignored the child. I was in shock! Here you are in a park full of children and parents and not one person bothered to look down at this crying child and try to figure out what was wrong with him.
My many years of working for a police department is not in vain. The experience and many hours of training started to kick in and the emotions took a back seat. I walk over to the kid. I get down to his level and I ask him if he's lost. Hiss crying becomes hysterical and the fear begins to consume him. I look at him and with pure love in my eyes tell him not to worry, we will find his parents. I ask him who he was with. He tells me he was with his dad. I ask him where was the last place he saw his daddy. "Right here." He says. You can physically see his desperation begin to leave his tiny little body. He knew he was safe.
The child must have been at least five years old. He was terrified and surrounded by all these people he didn't know and all that it took was one person taking a couple of minutes out of their day and asking him if he needed help. He trusted me. I was not going to stop until I found his dad. At this point I ask him to stand right there and ask him what his dad was wearing. "A red shirt and blue pants," he says. At this point Boobie, who is also a police department employee begins to look around for the dad. We both know that in these situations, the parent will return to the last place he saw his kid. It wasn't a good idea to move him.
I reach for the child's hands and I ask him not to cry. "Don't worry honey, we are going to find your daddy." A couple of things were working against us accomplishing our goal. It was dark, the street lights were out due to the light parade and people were basically walking over each other. No one was helping us find this boys dad. Now what? We begin looking for a man who looks just as desperate as this child in the sea of madness that we were standing in. Just as I was wondering where people's heart have gone, a Disney employee walks out of the candy store and grabs the boy from my arms. She says she's going to find his dad and sweeps him from my arms. She never made eye contact with me and instantly starts to walk him around the store. A definite no no! How can you trust someone who never makes eye contact?
Instantly, I went after her and Boobie stopped me. He asked me to relax, she'll help him find his dad. I start to walk away, but everything in me is telling me to go back. I mean, how can she find his dad? She walked away from the last place dad saw him. Dad was going to go back to where we were standing and his boy is not going to be where he last saw him. Now you are going to stress out two people for no reason. Also, she never made eye contact with me, how could I trust her. I made a promsie to the little boy, I was breaking that. She never made him feel comfortable. She never reassured him that it was going to be ok. She never let him trust her. She just grabbed him and left.
I didn't feel right about this at all. It took me a while to calm down and not stress it. She was a Disney employee and had training on how to get lost children back to her parents. But, she wasn't trained the way I was. She didn't know what I knew. I couldn't trust her to find his dad. I almost turned around and went back. Boobie stopped me. "He's going to be fine, trust me." I did trust him. Because he was ok with it, then I would be too. I let it go and enjoyed the rest of my night.
A part of me hasn't let it go though. It's not because he was taken from my arms, but because I couldn't trust that woman to find his dad the way I could find his dad. I knew that I could do a good job and all I wanted to see was the pain taken away from that little boys face and see the relief and happiness return to his face once he was reunited with his dad. I wanted to see love.
I realize that what my mother told me is true, but just as I decided a long time ago that I would not succumb to the ways of the world, I will honor that today. I have to trust people, and not just those that I have tested, but all people. I have to welcome everyone with open arms because I want to see the pain and sorrow that surrounds so many of us disappear and be replaced with the relief and happiness that only comes from knowing that there is still good in the world. I choose to be a leader and not a follower. I choose to love.
Fides....
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