The Fragile People

She is a fragile child.

It took her mother years and countless procedures and tests to conceive. There were miscarriages and fruitless efforts that took their toll and when at last she came into this world, she was a blessing beyond words. She has been protected, indulged, and loved since before she was born and now she is almost a young woman - tall and slender as a blade of grass, model-beautiful and graceful, a dancer, a determined student, her mother's hearts delight. There is still a childlike quality about her, an innocent, shy vulnerability - her feelings are out on front for anyone to see and are hurt easily. She has never heard a severe word from her parents and she is growing up in a harsh world that I fear will try and harm her. The sheer unfamiliarity of a raised voice or an angry look can bring tears. It can be an unkind world for the fragile people with nothing but goodness and trust for armor. Reality has a way of being cruel to them, trespassing on their upbringing and intruding into their view of things with a bitter force. This beautiful child, so doe-like and gentle, is at risk from all that surrounds her so her mother comforts and shields her, all the while wondering if she is doing right.

Children are not the only fragile people though - as I was driving home from work tonight, I heard screaming and barely avoided running down the man who streaked in front of me, crazed and cursing and howling like an animal.
I stopped at the corner drugstore and as I was leaving, he was being escorted out by a petite but firm cashier with an angry look and a can of mace. A police cruiser met him as he ran toward the intersection and though he resisted and fought like a madman, he was subdued, and still howling, was handcuffed and unceremoniously thrown into the back of the police car. Whether high on drugs on simply out of his mind, he was damaged and fragile though it was, at first glance, not something I recognized. His frailty was hidden beneath madness and fear.

We often try to disguise our fragile side. Arrogance hides insecurity, sarcasm masks uncertainty, coldness is a shield against shyness and schizophrenia a retreat. It might be better if we could all wear "Handle With Care" labels.