I recently overheard two grandmothers chatting and comparing photos and stories about their grandkids. They both did a convincing job with pretending interest in the other's protégé. I am sure that such conversations are shared thousands of times daily in every given city and town.
Finally the chit-chat took a tone turn. One matriarch said that recently her young nine year old granddaughter corrected her spoken English. Now make sure that you HEARD that...the kid corrected the adult. The old gal hearing this 'report' said that her ten year old grandkid does that 'correcting' thing on HER frequently and she finds it 'cute.' Holy crap, I thought I was experiencing a nightmare!!
This kinda shit literally floors me! My parents preached to me from the first moment I could decipher the spoken word: "Listen boy, YOU are to be seen and not heard around adult company!" "If an adult ask you a question, you answer the question and say yes sir no sir; yes mam and no mam along with the appropriate thank you." In fact, I was told as a kid that I was to be scarce when adults came to our house. "You are not to hang around listening to adult conversations," my parents explained.
Since overhearing that granny-talk, I have given thought to this language correction thing. I recall, as an adult, a superior of mine in the work place told me that I was using a word incorrectly. I truly appreciated him taking the moment to do that correcting; it served me well. The key element is he corrected me in private. He did not embarrass me in public. That stated, I believe it is never okay for a child to correct an adult; privately or publicly and I hold parents responsible for insisting on that guideline.
No comments:
Post a Comment