Bob's Banter

Reach out to the wounded people

Red heart with a bandaid on it

Very often I hear from some friend or relative that either they or someone in the family has been struck by a fatal disease. “But don’t tell anyone!” they tell me. I always wonder why they don’t want to tell others, and have come to the conclusion they feel the world will mock them for their tragic circumstances.

Is the world actually so cruel?

I remember the story of a kid in school who was vaccinated with a painful injection in the arm. The doctor then wanted to stick on a bandage. “Please put it on the other arm,” the boy pleaded.

“Why?” the surprised doctor asked. “This will let everyone know you have been vaccinated and they won’t hit your sore arm.”

“Please put it on my other arm! Please!” the boy begged. “You don’t know the kids at my school. They will hit me there, because they know my arm has been vaccinated!”

The boy knew his fellow students and wasn’t about to let them hit his already hurting arm.

Adults, too, are pretty good at hiding pain. Not usually physical pain, but the kind of pain that’s harder to see.

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Robert Clements is a newspaper columnist with an estimated readership of 6 million. He also conducts a short-term writer’s course. Contact him at bobsbanter@gmail.com for more details.

Robert Clements

Robert Clements is a newspaper columnist with an estimated readership of 6 million. He also conducts a short-term writer’s course. Contact him at bobsbanter@gmail.com for more details.