I am an old lady. Yesterday, daunted by a high snowbank barring my path to the Library, I asked a passing father, children clutching his hands, whether he could please lend a hand as I jumped down. Doing so would have taken less time than his response to my request, which was “sorry, I can’t, I’m pressed for time.” After which, he and his children continued on their way.
Is this the lesson Middlebury parents really want to teach our children: that our importance and busyness supersede a stranger’s request for a second’s kindness?
Elizabeth Tillinghast Oettinger
Middlebury