You Can Change the Way You Listen

Lynn Johnston has done it again!

Thank you Lynn for including Shannon in your strip. She is a wonderful addition and her message today to the kids who tease her is one all people should be wise to remember not only for people with disabililties, but for people who are less educated and people learning the language as well.

I am reminded of an African immigrant my mother and I encountered working at a local pizza take-out a few years ago. He told the story of people's impatience as he attempted to speak to them in English, which was his third language. If people changed the way they listened they would realize that here was a person who felt privileged to be in the US and was attempting to learn our language as a way to assimilate. These are the same people who are angered when Hispanic immigrants refuse to learn English.

If we all changed the way we listen to one another, perhaps we would find a better way to get along with one another. And as parents, we would set a better example for our children.