I like this

A gentleman on the I-CAN listserv that I am on shared the following insight on reactions to staring. I really like his perspective.

"I know that parents always want to do just the right thing. In this case, I think that less is better. If you make a big deal of it, you can get the kids worked up over something they are just going to have to live with. I think I first used the shark story in the early 1940s. Sounds like fun, but it's tiresome too. I think that if I had to tell a child something about this sort of person, I would just say that they probably aren't very bright, since they can't seem to find anything intelligent to say or anything more interesting than your arm (hand, leg, whatever) to stare at. Mostly, I ignore it. Today my wife and I went to Taste of Cincinnati (a street fair). I am sure that I must have attracted a look or two, but the truth is, if so, I never noticed.

There are very few ways that we have to analyze the intelligence of other people: What they do, say, or write exhausts my list. People who say clever things tend to be bright. People who say stupid things tend to be stupid. People who stare are the ones who take a very long time to figure out what a situation is. Brighter people take a look, figure it out, and move on to something more interesting.
You may feel like insulting one of the stupid people, but they don't embarrass very easily because they don't get it. Pity for them is a more appropriate response than cleverness, which they would never understand." James Myers

Definitely not easy, but something I have to work on.