R-E-S-P-E-C-T
Posted by Rachel Balducci in Family on Tuesday, September 14, 2010 11:39 PM
Today I was out running errands with baby Isabel. As we ambled through the aisles at Target, Isabel snuggled against my chest in her baby carrier, I noticed a young couple at the other end of the aisle. They looked really young (mid-teens) but as it was a weekday morning, I assumed they were a bit older than they seemed.
At some point, before I moved on from throw pillows to plasticware, the couple began to walk off. Just as they rounded the corner, the young man brought his hand up into the air, swooped down and smacked the girl on the bum. Hard. She jumped a bit and giggled, and on they went.
I stood there open-jawed and amazed. I felt a complicated mix of awe, sadness and anger. It took a split-second before I realized that marching over to the couple was probably not a good idea. But oh how I wanted to take that young girl by the shoulders, look her in the eye and tell her she must never, NEVER let a man treat her than way. If he won’t show you respect, than show some to yourself.
Maybe this sounds like I’ve got no sense of humor, or that I don’t remember young love. Maybe all this makes me sound like an old fuddy-duddy. Well then so be it. Because I thought back long and hard to my early days of dating and while there was plenty of passion and lots of good-natured fun, there was also protocol. This is simply not how a gentelman treats a lady. No matter what.
Young boys should be trained in the way they treat young woman. This is important training that, good Lord willing, happens in the home and at school. By the time a young man is old enough to no longer be required at weekday morning class by law than he should know how to treat a girl.
But in the sad, off-hand chance that such home-training does not occur, than that girl should have the sense to avoid such a boy. Boys need to learn how to treat girls, but girls also need to know how they are to be treated. If you’re not getting the respect you deserve, demand it. If that doesn’t work, move along at a very quick pace.
The couple wandered away and I stood there staring in disbelief. At the risk of sounding totally self-righteous, I’ll admit I said a prayer for that girl. She can do better; I hope she realizes that soon.
Then I looked down at my sweet daughter, whose eyes of love stared right back at me.
“Don’t you EVER let a man treat you that way,” I said (through telepathy), as I kissed her forehead and then set off for the next item on our list.
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