You all know I try not to bring anything negative to this site. A few times Ive called out a situation that has hurt us but not the individual or place. I have to tonight though. My family and I are staying at a wonderful campground right near the Old Mill area of Pigeon Forge. An area we love... And tonight Matt offered to take us to get ice cream at the Old Mill Creamery. It was packed when we got there. Well, its a small space so maybe it just seemed packed- maybe 10 or so families came in after us.The two teenage girls working looked tired and they were certainly letting their frustrations show. Especially when someone had a special request such as when Matt asked for a cup of water. I even mentioned to him they seemed to be in a bad mood. Oh well. So we are sitting on the patio enjoying our ice cream and it was a few minutes before closing. A car pulls up beside us and it takes them awhile to get out of the car and get up to the door. The mom walks up to the door and one of the teenagers goes over and turns them away because now it was 9 and they were closed. Following closely behind the mom was a little girl with a walker - obviously physically disabled (if I had to guess maybe CP) and having a difficult time. When her mom told them they were closed she started bawling. Matt saw the whole thing and started fuming. He told me what happened and I looked at him and said go tell those girls! Do something! Matt ran over to the door and knocked while the family slowly got back into the car, putting the little girls walker in the trunk. Matt knocked and knocked and the girls just stood there and stared at him. He started waving them over and he was so frustrated that they were going so slow. When the girl finally opened the door Matt looks at her and said That family that you just turned away... The reason it took them so long to get to the door was because their little girl is disabled. Cant you do something? And the girl just looked at Matt and said sorry? Ergh!! I looked over and said are thy going to let them get ice cream? (Hoping they would I started making my way to the car as they started pulling out) and Matt shook his head. He sat back down and I did too as the family drove off. We looked in and the girls were smiling and laughing. (Insert angry glares at the two girls who saw and still didnt stop.) Now I understand closing times. They closed at 9 and the family managed to get to the door right at 9. I also get we were dealing with two girls on their summer break wanting to get done and get off work. This was obvious by their distracted conversation about quitting time while we were getting our ice cream. Im sure the family found another ice cream place (its pigeon forge after all- they are on every block)... But my God, the lack of compassion! To not seem to care what had happened and then to laugh and smile about being called out on it. Sheesh. I know I cant expect everyone to understand what its like to have a disabled child. Ours dont have trouble walking but when Stone was on continuous feeds it took us extra time to go anywhere. Evie is just difficult when we go out and we probably spend more time than someone with a typical 4 year old trying to get in and out. I know these girls probably havent lived long enough to understand the situation. And I hope they never have to experience life with a sick child. I dont remember a time I didnt have compassion for people (disabled or not) and now I feel like Im even more so now that Ive lived it. I felt sad because Ive been there- where its taken too long or due to our situation the kids miss out. I mean seriously we took our son to an ice cream place and got him water! I know those girls laughed and smiled in front of us because they couldnt see we had two special kids ourselves. Maybe had that family been standing right there they would have thought twice about laughing. I dont know. The whole situation makes me sad. The lack of compassion hurts my heart. Anyways, I called and got their names and the name of the manager and I will call and talk to her. I know to some it may sound silly but those girls may have well have been laughing at my own children. Thats all. Im sure this may cause some eyes rolls- not everyone gets it right? But oh well. My hope is that maybe someones heart may be changed that may have done something similar. Compassion folks. Its an easy way to make the world a better place.
Posted on: Wed, 30 Jul 2014 02:13:08 +0000
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