Just the other day I was walking through campus with a friend, and a group of girls passed us. Once they thought I was out of earshot one of them said to the group "Yo, see I told you there was a midget that went here." A chorus of snickers followed. I rolled my eyes and kept walking. My friend, on the other hand, got extremely upset. She was nearly ready to fight.
I'm 32 years old, and to even entertain such stupidity is beneath me. I got through most of middle school and all of high school without dealing with that level of immaturity. The last place I thought I would have such an encounter was a collage campus. That's when I realized it's not about maturity. I don't even think it's about ignorance, anymore. (Turn on TLC any night of the week and I guarantee you will see at lest 3 reality shows staring "little people.")
I may stand alone in this, but I think most of it is misguided curiosity and surprise. While most people are not so "vocal" about it, I'm smart enough to know that's probably the internal dialogue behind many stares. "Yo, I told you there is a midget that went here." translates to something more like: Guys there's a little person that goes here. I wonder why she's little. I wonder how she gets here. I wonder how she does in classes. She's smart enough to take college classes? - And that is where curiosity begins to feel like immaturity. These are questions that should be asked to me. The assumptions and the fabricated answers are ridiculous.
I'm not making excuses for inappropriate behavior. Snickering, and pointing are uncalled for and inexcusable. However, I've been 4' tall since I was about 7. I've spoken to enough schools, answered enough questions, walked through enough crowds and entered enough rooms to know that there's something more than just a bunch of ignorant people in an immature world. That's, truly, why stares don't bother bother me!
And guess what ... I've had moments of curiosity too ...
