Monday, August 8, 2011

The "Fanatic" and the Fan

My married daughter would surely call our downstairs neighbor a fanatic. He will not look you in the face if you have to speak with him ( he would only look at women in his family), and he would certainly prefer that you (if female) not pass him anything.
This behavior doesn't bother me; I understand his mind set and don't take it personally.
BUT when I was struggling up the stairs of our building with a heavy metal-base fan last week, he noticed, and immediately offered to carry it up for me.
See? His not staring at women is HIS stingency, but it doesn't affect his obligation to do chesed (acts of kindness). A good balance, to my mind.
(And yes, I definately accepted his offer to transport the fan.....)

2 comments:

Batya said...

nice to hear; he's a mensch

Unknown said...

What lovely thoughts! I am an author and the proud father of a 38-year-old daughter with Down syndrome. I have written a novel in ebook form, A SPY AT HOME, which is available on Amazon. In this book I have a central character, Noah, who has Down. I would like to invite you to read this ebook, and I would be very interested in your thoughts about the story. I can be reached directly at rinald47@gmail.com.
Thank you for your blog and for sharing your child with Down syndrome.
Joe Rinaldo