Just A Little Bit of Attention

10/31/2007 22:32 Filed in: Culture Watch
So yesterday, I stopped in a local restaurant to get a bite to eat for lunch, see the midday news on the large screen television in the dining area, and go over my lesson plan for a writing class I would be teaching later that evening.

After I had been there a few minutes, a middle-class-looking family walked in: a little boy who looked to be about four years of age, his mother and father, and a set of grandparents. After they were seated and looking at their menus, the little boy spoke up, "Look, Mommy. These are chairs like my teacher's chair."

No response. The adults in this family weren't talking really; they were just looking at their menus.

"Look, Mommy. These are chairs like my teacher's chair," he said again.

Once more the mother never looked up, and no one said anything.

"Look, Mommy. These are chairs like my teacher's chair."

"Look, Mommy. These are chairs like my teacher's chair."

"Look, Mommy. These are chairs like my teacher's chair. Look, Mommy. These are chairs like my teacher's chair. Look, Mommy. These are chairs like my teacher's chair. Look, Mommy. These are chairs like my teacher's chair. Look, Mommy. These are chairs like my teacher's chair. Look, Mommy. These are chairs like my teacher's chair. Look, Mommy. These are chairs like my teacher's chair. Look, Mommy. These are chairs like my teacher's chair. Look, Mommy. These are chairs like my teacher's chair. Look, Mommy. These are chairs like my teacher's chair. Look, Mommy. These are chairs like my teacher's chair. Look, Mommy. These are chairs like my teacher's chair. Look, Mommy. These are chairs like my teacher's chair. Look, Mommy. These are chairs like my teacher's chair. Look, Mommy. These are chairs like my teacher's chair. Look, Mommy. These are chairs like my teacher's chair. Look, Mommy. These are chairs like my teacher's chair. "

He said it at least that many times. Finally I had had enough. I was frustrated not with the little boy, but with his mother and the rest of this family that were ignoring him for no good reason. So, I turned my chair around to face him, and in the nicest voice I could muster, I looked in his direction and said, "Hey!" in a voice perhaps slightly louder than I intended.

Now I had everyone's attention: the little boy's, his family's and just about every other patron in the place.

Without waiting for the little fellow to respond, I asked, "Are these chairs just like your teacher's chair?"

His face formed into a great big grin, and nodding his head, he said, "Uh-huh!"

And that was it. The constant repetitive phrase was finished. All he had needed was a bit of acknowledgement, just a little bit of attention. I could tell that everyone was still staring at me, but I only turned to the mother to whom I smiled, raised my eyebrows, and then proceeded to turn around to my plate and continue eating.

I know I'm not a parent yet, and I don't want to come across as someone who thinks he can necessarily do it better, BUT I know I want to do it better than them.