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Originally Posted by filtherton
I certainly don't advocate banning people from otherwise public places simply because their presence makes me uncomfortable or annoyed.
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You're comparing the mere existence of a handicapped person with the outward, inescapable noises/behavior of a child. That's not nearly the same thing.
Experiencing discomfort because a person is handicapped is your own personal issue with that person's existence, at all, in your life. Being annoyed by a child in this context is not simply because they're sitting there, existing where you can see them, but because they are actively (mis)behaving in a manner you dislike- i.e., making noise.
Using this example, your discomfort with the handicapped is your own; they are doing nothing to provoke or instill that discomfort. They are just "being". The child, however, is providing auditory stimuli that affects you negatively. It is not you who decided the existence of the child annoying, it is the child's behavior that makes them annoying. Huge difference.
Not everyone is annoyed by the same things. As stated, I'm annoyed by certain types of music that many others love; I'm sure the feeling is mutual in a reciprocal fashion for some of those people and
my musical preferences. No one judges people for being annoyed by things, but the fact that I'm annoyed by loud, misbehaving children seems to make people think they're then empowered to go right ahead and judge me.
Me finding loud, misbehaving children annoying is no less legitimate than someone finding standing in long lines to be annoying. Like any other topic, the universal truth seems to carry on; just because it's a kid, people feel justified in talking down to you and disregarding you because you have anti-kid opinions.
[rant]
And you know what? I'm
not anti-kid. I'm anti-being-annoyed, and ANYONE being loud, obnoxious, misbehaving in public annoys me. I deal with children on a somewhat regular basis with my clinicals, will deal with them more once I'm actually out in the field working, and I couldn't be happier to be helping them. I rather enjoy helping kids, actually, because they're actually grateful for the help (even if still scared), more often than not, whereas "adult" patients tend to do nothing but try to lie to me, and are more often rude, indifferent, or grumpy that I'm trying to help them... and I'm happy to help them as well.
[/rant]