Trouble

[prog]

Ricky came back with a report of Trouble, at the local church he visited for Mass this morning. During "the Peace", the bit in the service where congregants take a moment to semi-ritualistically offer handshakes and say Peace! to their immediate neighbors in the pews, Ricky saw that a little girl near him seemed to be ignoring him, so he tapped her on the shoulder. This was apparently met with some disapproval.

I explained to him that he really shouldn't touch people he doesn't know, ever, to say nothing of touching children. He immediately got argumentative, starting with "It wasn't a touch, it was a tap," and he insisted on reconstructing the scene, with me role-playing the girl (and then receiving what I'd describe as a light, four-fingered flail on the shoulder). "I was treating her like I would my own daughter!" he finally said.

Ricky's thought-paths, and hence interactions with other people, will always be fractured, in ways like this.

Going downstairs to finish our Bezique game now, before I escort him back to the bus station. He's pretty steamed about this and muttering continuously about how nobody understands what "Peace" means any more. I'll just nod at this.

Comments

[leahleaf.livejournal.com]

man, having just spent basically a weekend playing the parental intercessor between a dude who is a ricky analog and the girls, i feel for all involved. (including you, as i finally buttonholed the dude to give him more than just A Look regarding the situation.) sigh.