THOT #140 Talkin to Strangers is Strange-Tawkin'

6 views

Skip to first unread message

Todd Galley: Family Chiropractor

unread,

May 11, 2011, 2:34:54 PM5/11/11

to thot-of-...@googlegroups.com

When we were kids Saturday morning cartoons were the thing. Sometime shows ran for ½ hour, some for an hour, and the Buggs Bunny-Road Runner show lasted a full 90 minutes. There were also some episodes every now and again that ran for 25 minutes. As a filler between the 25 minute show and the next ½ hour time slot, the networks would sometimes schedule some educational content. ‘School House Rock!’ is probably the most well remembered filler— (for the best School House Rock! video--click here!) and ‘McGruff the Crime Dog’ would fill in from time to time as well.

Anyways ‘McGruff’ was always telling us to “take a bite out of crime” and giving us safety tips to help us learn how to do so... (which is good.) But one thing McGruff would tell us was “never talk to strangers.” This may seem reasonable in many situations and many well intentioned parents would repeat the same thing to their kids… “Bye honey, I love you, have a good day at school, don’t forget your lunch, and don’t talk to strangers…” That’s all good advice right?

Their may be another way to look at that… If you NEVER talk to strangers and make it a point to stay away from them, you can never meet anyone new. Hey, as a kid maybe it is good advice… but then WHEN do our parents, teachers, and McGruff tell us… “OK, you’re old enough now to make judgments with your own mind and also to protect yourself if need be… it is now ok to talk to strangers.” We’re getting a feeling that for most people the “official release” probably never happens. We have great parents, love them dearly, they love us dearly, and none of them ever told us at any time it was now OK to talk to strangers.

Yes, of course you eventually figure it out for yourself over the years, but then there is the project of overcoming perhaps a decade or two of behavioral conditioning… and that isn’t always easy. Ask someone who has been smoking for 10 years to quit tomorrow and see how well most of them do. Most kids are not naturally shy, but WE TEACH THEM TO NOT TALK TO STRANGERS and then, for some, they quite literally become afraid to talk to people they don’t know (which, for most of your LIFE is almost EVERYBODY!)

WHAT IF…. instead… we teach them that LOVE is all around us and it becomes even brighter and more brilliant in a person when it is given away… and then, the person that receives that love becomes brighter and more brilliant… (it repeats!) WHAT IF we showed kids it is OK to talk to people. WHAT IF we lead by example and said Hi!, and How-ya-doin?, and ‘nice-day-isn’t-it?’, to everybody we met and gave them a smile or a wave. WHAT IF we wished everyone we met ‘Happy Day’ and we really meant it for them?

This THOT doesn’t involve the vertebral subluxation complex, nor does it share in amazement and wonder about another miraculous intricate working of the body. It’s just something to think about… and maybe, just maybe… it’s also an idea that somebody, somewhere, will ACT upon… and maybe their LIFE will improve in ways which we cannot even conceive of right now. That would be pretty cool… for them… and for the world.