Inside the mind of a little girl: Patronizing Tendencies

the continuation of the two previous short stories, "Inside the Mind of a Little Girl: Tacit Systems of Conduct" and "INside the Mind of a Little Girl: A Quest for Knowledge"

The little girl loved bathing and playing in the public pool. As such her mother thought it to be a great idea that the little girl attended basic swimming lessons with other children. The little girl was quite willing and eager to begin this new chapter of acquiring new skills. Though, as she stood at the edge of the pool, she realized that her expectations did not match the reality of such lessons. A young woman instructed the children. She was probably a decent person, however, the little girl felt uncomfortable around her. She could not identify the feeling, but whenever the instructor spoke to her - or everyone �" it made her body stiff and uncooperative. She couldn’t even look at the instructor, who in an effort to make the little girl more comfortable squatted next to her and spoke in a chipper tone. The instructor spoke slowly, emphasising certain parts of her sentences as if the message would become clearer as a result. The little girl understood perfectly, however, as the instructor continued her encouraging speech; the little girl felt the blood rush to her face. She did not mean to behave badly or stubbornly, but she could not move her body. The little girl’s mother �" a bit embarrassed �" convinced the little girl to sit next to the other children on the pool’s edge with her feet in the water. The little girl really wanted to be good and decided to make the effort despite whatever feelings that might stir inside of her.

The instructor then said, “let’s make some whipped cream!” she demonstrated by kicking her legs in the water, making the water  and the other children followed suit. The instructor praised the children’s ability to kick their legs in the water, at which point the little girl completely froze. She did not say anything, she did not move. The instructor approached her. Again she squatted and looked intently at the little girl, she spoke slowly and made a �" probably well-intended �" encouraging speech. The little girl did not like the way the instructor spoke to her. She was not a dog or an unusually stupid child �" yet the instructor’s way of addressing her made her feel just that! What was wrong with that instructor? Perhaps she was unusually stupid �" and the other children as well. She looked at them, happily doing as the instructor had showed them, and they looked unproportionally happy to what they were actually doing. This was absurd! It made no sense, she concluded in awe as she found herself experiencing this surreal scenario. The little girl’s mother took her to the shower room �" embarrassed by the little girl’s refusal to take part in the lessons. She could not articulate her feelings, although they were strong �" The feelings, that she years later would identify as shame and humiliation due to the instructors patronizing manner of addressing and viewing her and other children. 

Author's Note

Contructive criticism is well received