Shadow Puppet Storyteller

Tying together the threads

So, the last few days, I have jotted down incomplete thoughts. I either didn't note what began my train of thought, or I did not fully conclude. (I don't even guarantee I'll do it effectively tonight!)

Post 42 "Talk About Scary," I think it is important to note, was prompted by my observation on a school playground. There I was, in my Cubmaster's uniform, standing in plain sight during recess. I was hunting for another adult leader who'd already arrived and whom I was to help in announcing our program. We'd make a round of the primary grades to invite them to experience my Cub Scout Pack (All background, not my point). What I noticed was the obliviousness of the kids to my presence among them. Mind you, I'm in the most obvious uniform in the Scouting organization - yellow shirt and blue skirt that some may remember as the standard garb of the classic "Den mother."

"I am the stranger," I thought. As long as I am authorized and labeled "vistor" in the school office ahead of time, I have access to my destination on the school grounds. But not knowing my destination, I was in the open, looking for a sign of my partner's location. Does the "Don't talk to strangers" education now not include pointing out an unfamiliar person to an adult in charge? Not even a yard supervisor will ask if I need help. I guess I just look reserved and polite enough to just be a patiently waiting person. But, that visitor badge is not all that noticeable.

Two possibilities crossed my mind, they feel comfortable with me there, or they've become oblivious to watching out for their own safety. (Yeah, they were busy having quality playtime, why pay any attention to the visitor in the yard?) I really do not know if my observation is troubling or not. I suppose kids should feel safe on school grounds. (Of course, don't you agree they should also feel that same comfort at home, at the park, store, chuch?) Wouldn't it be nice if everyone could be a trusted friend? We're all so restricted now in how we interact with each other. I know that I wouldn't approach a child in this situation, for example. On my own children's school grounds, I might, being a little more widely recognized there. It's a barely conscious distinction. Has society reinforced this disconnection. I think so, big time.

Yet, I felt a little bad that the naive curiosity of children is so easily quelled. Like a police officer in uniform, I can get more interaction from a group of kids in an open park playground. They manipulate their environment more freely there, feel more empowered, and usually, are unsupervised. And isn't it those public places that should really be more supervised for safety factors.

Off I've gone on a protection rant, when really my point was to say I felt bad being given the "stranger" cold shoulder.
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The next night's post (43) I was concerned about being inactive, possibly worried about the same passive acceptance I was noting in neighborhood schoolchildren. I never know if my comments, sometimes intended to be ironic or humorous really come off that way. That post, I may have just come off as a bore.

Yet, here I am analyizing my own posts, that's pretty borish too.