TOD 03.11.08

I hate it when I fail, and I especially hate it when I feel like I failed because of fear and poor thinking. The other day, I was at the park with my wife and kids and there were about 20 other kids there on their own, but no adults…other than one guy. He was 45 or 50, and he was just sitting there watching the kids. This immediately made me suspicious, so I kept an eye on him. After a very long time, he eventually walked off, but I never did say anything to him.

I wasn’t afraid of what would happen if he was a bad guy. If that was the case, I obviously wanted to know. I was afraid of falsely accusing or irritating a good guy. Only later did I realize that a decent person wouldn’t be bothered by me confronting him because he’d recognize the value of a society that protects kids that way. How do I know? Because that’s how a parent like me would respond. I’d kind of be glad to be challenged in a similar situation. So what did I learn?

Think a situation all the way through, and follow your strong instincts. The safety of children is everyone’s business, and the Golden Rule applies in many different ways.