Have you seen this story?

Waiter who refused to serve customers a viral hero.

I would like to add my personal nod of thanks to Mr. Garcia.

Also makes me ponder a bit. This little boy has down syndrome – based on the picture you can tell he has down syndrome. The family that moved and made the derogatory statement had seen the boy and made a judgment about his being ‘special’ partly based on what they ‘saw’.

Many kids (and adults) have “invisible” disorders. Asperger’s, Autism, ADD/ADHD, SPD, FADDS, and more. From the outside you can’t see a thing.

Had this been a case of a boy with one of the invisible disorders; instead of a comment about ‘special’ people being special somewhere else, I guess this family would have had some choice comments about the child’s behavior and the ‘terrible’ parents they must be to allow that type of behavior.

I’ve heard those kind of comments.

I am fairly certain I’ve been the subject of those kinds of comments.

I wonder what would have happened in that case? Likely, because the boy’s family were regulars, the waiter would have know about the ‘invisible’ disorder and hopefully taken the same stand.

But would the public praise have been the same? Would a picture of a child with an invisible disorder have rallied the same viral kudos?

You see a kids face on a poster for juvenile diabetes and it’s just a kids face. You see a kids face on a poster for childhood cancer and you see what the cancer has done to the child. Which one draws more sympathy or empathy?

May we all stop and think before we pass judgment on others. Think about what the story might be, not just what the story looks like at first glance.

(And for heaven’s sake, if you are going to make a derogatory comment about other people, don’t do it in front of your own children. That’s how bigots are made.)