We Don't Make Fun of............

     There was this man who was a pianist and he would visit my church on several occasions.  He could play whatever song was requested of him without any practice.  The tune he could make was a taste of what my Mom called Heaven.  This man had one problem; three of his fingers on one hand were cut off and to fingers on the other hand was cut off due to defective machinery at the auto garage he use to work at.  One Sunday the man didn’t show up for whatever reason and the Pastor explained to us kids what had cause this man’s hands to look like they did. 

     The following Sunday was Youth Sunday and each youth were given an opportunity to express themselves either in a music selection, dance, or reading.  One of the girls played “Amazing Grace” on her flute.  Another little boy read “The Lord’s Prayer.”  It was time for a music selection on the piano from this one girl who also played on regular basis.  When she approaches the front of the church she has her hands in her pockets.  She has this smirk on her face like she was up to something.  She sits down at the piano, pulls her hands out of her pockets, and reaches up to flip through the hymnal to find the musical selection she had chosen to play.  Her fingers were taped down just like the man’s whose fingers were cut off.  Many burst out laughing.

     From this point all I can remember our Pastor’s wife quickly going over to the piano and removing this child from the piano and ripping the tape off her fingers.  She shouted at her, “This is a serious matter.  There’s no playing or games here.  You should be ashamed of yourself.”  No there was no playing or games now.  The child was in tears and the Pastor was embarrassed.  The next time the man came to the church Pastor called the girl up to the front of the church after he explained to the man what had took place in his absence and made the girl openly apologize for her actions.  The man accepted and all was well.

I’m sure my Pastor’s wife scared the living daylights out of this child.  There was laughter and then within a second there was complete silence.  Making fun of someone with a disability or who is less fortunate then the next was absolutely not tolerated when I growing up.  You were reminded there was a slim chance that could have been you.  Without a doubt this child along with the whole congregation knew making fun of that man’s hands was wrong and I’m sure it never crossed anyone’s mind to repeat it again.

     I believe just as quick as my Pastor’s wife responded once she saw what was going we as anti-bias educators should respond when we see this negative behavior going on in our classrooms or at our center.   We must be alert to these negative actions and stop the behavior before it escalates to something out of our control.  I appreciate my Pastor’s wife for intervening because this could have caused problems later down the road where someone could have gotten hurt or something more serious.