Friday is my long swim day with my wetsuit. While I seem to be getting slower each successive week it also seems to be getting a little easier. I think I mentioned that the triathlon shop has offered me a couple of sessions in their endless pool with accompanying coaching, and I think I'm gonna take them up on it. The bottom line however is that after 3 weeks in a row at 3000 metres or over I at least have the confidence to swim the distance without any serious effort.
My local Y, as I suspect others do, offers employment opportunities to mentally challenged individuals. There is one young man at our branch that brightens my day every time I see him. He is probably in his early to mid twenties, always seems to be cheerful and while he manages to communicate quite well, he is very obviously limited.
I always engage him in conversation as it seems to stimulate him, but at the same time I try hard not to talk down to him. After all, I'm a moron and he decidedly is not.
How do I know?
I ran into him on the way out after my swim today. As we walked together we chatted for a few minutes and as we approached the doors I commented on the fact that the rain was really coming down. Without a moments hesitation he tilted his head in the direction of the wetsuit I had over my shoulder, and with a mischievous grin said. "You should put that back on".
It felt so good to laugh with him. I'm supposed to be the witty one, and him the challenged one? Where's his challenge I want to know?
It got me thinking about a long held belief that there is no such thing as smart people or dumb people. We are all smart! Some people are math smart, some are language smart, some are mechanical smart, and some are plant and/or animal smart. Some are emotional smart, some are funny smart, some are kind smart, and some are street smart. Some are physics smart, some are athletic smart, some are electrical smart, and still others are psychology smart. Some are broad based smart and others are focused smart. etc, etc
Either way you slice it people are people, and although the mental skills of some are more obvious than others don't be fooled by what meets the eye or the ear. After all, many people upon meeting me jump to the conclusion that I'm a moron! Anyone who takes the time to get to know me better quickly acknowledges me as an idiot....and unfortunately not a savant.
(swim 3250 metres)
"An intelligence test sometimes shows a man how smart he would have been not to have taken it"---Laurence J Peter
Love
Peter
My local Y, as I suspect others do, offers employment opportunities to mentally challenged individuals. There is one young man at our branch that brightens my day every time I see him. He is probably in his early to mid twenties, always seems to be cheerful and while he manages to communicate quite well, he is very obviously limited.
I always engage him in conversation as it seems to stimulate him, but at the same time I try hard not to talk down to him. After all, I'm a moron and he decidedly is not.
How do I know?
I ran into him on the way out after my swim today. As we walked together we chatted for a few minutes and as we approached the doors I commented on the fact that the rain was really coming down. Without a moments hesitation he tilted his head in the direction of the wetsuit I had over my shoulder, and with a mischievous grin said. "You should put that back on".
It felt so good to laugh with him. I'm supposed to be the witty one, and him the challenged one? Where's his challenge I want to know?
It got me thinking about a long held belief that there is no such thing as smart people or dumb people. We are all smart! Some people are math smart, some are language smart, some are mechanical smart, and some are plant and/or animal smart. Some are emotional smart, some are funny smart, some are kind smart, and some are street smart. Some are physics smart, some are athletic smart, some are electrical smart, and still others are psychology smart. Some are broad based smart and others are focused smart. etc, etc
Either way you slice it people are people, and although the mental skills of some are more obvious than others don't be fooled by what meets the eye or the ear. After all, many people upon meeting me jump to the conclusion that I'm a moron! Anyone who takes the time to get to know me better quickly acknowledges me as an idiot....and unfortunately not a savant.
(swim 3250 metres)
"An intelligence test sometimes shows a man how smart he would have been not to have taken it"---Laurence J Peter
Love
Peter
We all have a purpose in life, no matter our capabilities. There is reason for us being here, no matter the length of time. We all have something to offer the human race, if only we give each other a chance.
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