When small children approach me in a mall, at an art fair or other function, especially when my eyebrows and goatee are bleached white and I am in "Santie Claus" mode, parents try to make (bad) excuses for their children's curiosity.
In 2 seconds and in passing, I tell the parents:
"I love their minds when they are this age. Their minds are still curious, creative and adventuresome, and they are naturally free of prejudice and bigotry. I love their minds - until they grow into YOURS!"
Usually, I get one of three reactions:
1) Sometimes the parents have a blank look on their face that never changes... the light never comes on.
2) Sometimes, much like the the new fluorescent compact light bulbs, the light comes on immediately, but it is dim at first, and with each passing second, it gets a little brighter until it has full power.
3) and sometimes, the parents get my gist immediately, and respond with "Hey!"
I answer them with, "Hey - what? You resemble that remark?" Hesitant but honestly, SOME of them respond with, "Yeah, I do!"
I know that - at least for the moment - that those in category #3 KNOW the difference. Do I believe that, in the future, they will try to raise their children to use their minds to their full capacity? No. I'm not that naive.
In the words of Oprah Winfrey, I do hope that at least ONE person will think, "You know.... I never thought of it that way!" and they will go forward with a changed mind and a changed heart, and they will put forth the effort to see that their minds, and those of their children, are less lazy and they are less constricted than their own minds, and those of THEIR parents.
- Michael
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