Friday, August 21, 2009

Minnesota Nice Gone Wrong

People here in Minnesota are generally very nice, in fact they are often to nice when it comes to dealing with kids who happen to have disabilities. This is for nurses. teachers, deli ladies, old guys, cashiers, and all of you other people who think that you are being kind and helpful, PLEASE STOP and give your good deeds somewhere where they will actually do some good.

Dentist lady who gave Hanna stickers, yes "Flo ride At Work", No Cavities", Hannah Montana,etc, etc, eight of them in all, giant stickers plastered all over her t-shirt. You would not have done this for the average twelve year old who came into you office, they would have been able to tell you that they could live without the stickers. Hanna loves them and will obsess with them, she will not take them off her shirt and her sixteen year old sister refuses to go to the mall with her because she is being embarrassing, so we go home instead.

Deli lady who gave Allen a free cookie, you did not give one to the six foot tall fifteen year old boy standing immediately behind Allen in line or the ninety-nine other teenagers who came into your business that day. Allen enjoyed the cookie, what fifteen year old boy would not, but he needs to learn that he gets only what he has money for.

Nurse lady who gave Hanna her shot, she did not need two pencils for getting a shot that she was going to get anyway. The other twelve year olds do not get pencils for that. You started something that you are not going to be able to stop with her as she is going to need more shots but she sure does not need all those pencils.

Bank lady who gave Lauren a sucker because she was "doing such a good job waiting for Dad".. Most fifteen year olds who have a MP3 player can wait for fifteen minutes without causing to much trouble, just because she happens to be sitting in a purple wheelchair while she is waiting does not mean that she needs a sucker.

Teacher lady who gives Hanna stickers, books, and toys for doing the things that she is supposed to be doing in school, please stop. The other sixth graders are not getting this stuff and all this is doing is causing trouble at home because Hanna is not going to be allowed to keep all of this stuff. She gets mad at Mom and Dad because we are taking away her stuff. Hanna has all that she needs here and lots of things that she wants as well.

Old guy at Burger King who "helped" (did it for him) put the ketchup in the little container for Allen please don`t do that. It is a task that Allen can do for himself and he really does like doing it for himself. You did not make his day, instead you upset him because he really did want to get his own ketchup. In fact you made him so mad that he did not eat anything.

Cashier guy who said "its okay" when Hanna took a bag of Cheetos from the shelf near your register, opened them and started eating them without first paying for them . This certainly is not okay. Mom paid for them, another kid got an unexpected treat, and Hanna was really really mad. She could not understand why she could not have the Cheetos because the guy had told her she could. Hanna needs to follow the rules just like everyone else.I Here in America you must purchase the things you need and want.

When all you very nice people are being very nice to my kids you are really teaching them that they are different and do not have to function in society to the best of their ability. I am all for accommodating persons with disabilities in order to give them the ability to be the best that they can be. Maybe consider giving them a job that they can do, or saying hello to them when you see them, or helping them when they need it and are asking for it would be a better "Minnesota Nice".

2 comments:

  1. I hear you! We've had the same problem with our daughter - people letting her get away with things or telling her "it's OK" when she does something for which I make her apologize. What she hears is, "Oh, I didn't do anything wrong after all, since they said it's OK!"

    Then later, those teachers/helpers/etc. who haven't made her toe the line with the other kids wonder why now she won't behave. Hmm...

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  2. I have noticed that with my kids who are black too. I told Beverly she couldn't have a soda one day because I didn't have change for the pop machine. Some guy tried to give us a $100 dollar bill... so I could by her something nice.

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