Ask Yadi: Is it too late for people to stop expecting the worst out of strangers?

CLEVELAND, Oh - Is it too late for people to stop expecting the worst out of strangers?

From a reader: I wonder if you can turn Cleveland and suburbs around by reintroducing to parents, grandparents and caretakers the idea of training children to wave back to adults standing behind them in grocery lines, department store lines, bank lines, etc.

Until the mid-1980s, it was common training to let the babies respond to “hiya” by a grown-up. Then “stranger danger” was introduced in every single classroom across the globe. We adults then became “the enemy.” We – innocent, kind people waiting to buy our milk and eggs – had Mom cover the baby with her body, carts twisted at odd angles.

If you spend enough time walking around, you will now find tons of 20-45+ year olds who refuse to walk down a street and say hi! They divert their eyes because they perceive we 80-year-olds are the bad guys/gals. Yet sociologists proved a decade or more ago it was relatives or close family friends in the vast majority of places who hurt children.

We need more “good mornings” and less guns and violence; we need to build trust in our people. It begins by thinking the best, not the worst.

My thoughts: A parent’s job is to protect their children. In this day and age, it is easy to understand that they are fearful, and at times, overprotective.

While I can sympathize with your lack of response of babies and children to wave back, one can’t fault a parent who is leery of strangers’ acknowledgement of their children. It is tempting to smile at a baby or toddler and say hello or try to make them smile and laugh. As adults, when a little one says hi to us, I think instinctively we in turn smile and wave at them. But sadly, we aren’t even safe in grocery stores nowadays.

I say, try not to take offense and just understand the protector coming out in parents.

But I do agree with you that we could use more “good mornings”…from adults. There is nothing wrong with a friendly smile or acknowledgement when one adult passes another.