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Just something to think about. [1]

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Date: 2023-04-14  

So, today was shopping day at the market. As I was about to enter the store, just outside the doors, I encountered a mother whose child was having a tantrum about not wanting to enter the store. And I mean a full-blown, red-faced, tears flowing, arms flailing, legs kicking, top of the lung caterwaul about not going through those doors.

The child's mother placed the little girl on her feet, and being very patient, attempted to calm the child while asking in the most calm of voices if she wanted to enter the store or stay in the car with her sister. By that time I was through the doors and heard no more of the conversation nor the result thereof. Later, while searching an aisle for an item I happened to see the mother, sans her two daughters, said hello and made the comment. "looks like the little one won the argument."

The woman smiled a little sadly and stated the young one has done this every time they go to a large indoor store.

I expressed my sympathy about the situation and that is when I found out the sad truth of the matter.

She explained the little girl had been born during the Covid-19 pandemic and as such, had basically been housebound for the last two to three years.

An uncounted casualty of the pandemic. Something no one, least of all myself, had ever considered. Not being able to "socialize" one's child for over two years, and thusly, that child is afraid of large, echoing spaces and a multitude of strangers around her.

When I had finished my shopping, and loaded my car with my purchases, I sat there in the driver's seat, pondering the damage done by a fucking virus.

My heart cried for that little girl and all those children like her who, in these coming years, will need all the help we can give them to overcome their fears.

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[1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/4/14/2163942/-Just-something-to-think-about

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