Are we a society of humans?

Parenting is one of the hardest jobs, if not THE hardest, that an individual will ever have to do. And unfortunately, rather than making it easier, our society has made it even more difficult, to the verge of being emotionally traumatic.

A few days ago, I witnessed a single mother racing between her two toddlers, desperately trying to contain their excitement amidst a family event. Buried under embarrassment and the struggle to get two small kids to sit down quietly, she was also being constantly targeted by every single individual around, mother or not, throwing remarks on her poor parenting, “btameez bachay” and “bichari” situation. Also finding the worst possible timing to give themselves a pat on their back for never having to experience something like that, themselves. Instead of getting up and helping a person in dire need, they resorted to playing the audience of a reality show – smirking at her desperation, taunting her decisions, passing expressions of disgust at her kids.

This, this is what’s wrong with our society. This is what’s wrong with any society that claims to be a part of the human world. We were meant to spread love and understanding, run for any opportunity to help a sister or brother in need, we were meant to empathize with situations we might have never experienced ourselves, we were meant to learn from mistakes of others, before becoming a bad example. But we chose the opposite. We chose to mock, ridicule, and find every chance we got, to prove that we are somehow better. And in doing that, we just prove, we are not…..

The next time you see a struggling parent, help them…

Parenting is one of the hardest jobs, if not THE hardest, that an individual will ever have to do. And unfortunately, rather than making it easier, our society has made it even more difficult, to the verge of being emotionally traumatic.

A few days ago, I witnessed a single mother racing between her two toddlers, desperately trying to contain their excitement amidst a family event. Buried under embarrassment and the struggle to get two small kids to sit down quietly, she was also being constantly targeted by every single individual around, mother or not, throwing remarks on her poor parenting, “btameez bachay” and “bichari” situation. Also finding the worst possible timing to give themselves a pat on their back for never having to experience something like that, themselves. Instead of getting up and helping a person in dire need, they resorted to playing the audience of a reality show – smirking at her desperation, taunting her decisions, passing expressions of disgust at her kids.

This, this is what’s wrong with our society. This is what’s wrong with any society that claims to be a part of the human world. We were meant to spread love and understanding, run for any opportunity to help a sister or brother in need, we were meant to empathize with situations we might have never experienced ourselves, we were meant to learn from mistakes of others, before becoming a bad example. But we chose the opposite. We chose to mock, ridicule, and find every chance we got, to prove that we are somehow better. And in doing that, we just prove, we are not…..

The next time you see a struggling parent, help them…

Hanna Seyal