Seen and Heard

Last night I got to step in to avert a near fistfight between two women in front of me after the Tanya Tucker show I attended. They were literally nose to nose and the stare-down quickly escalated into a shoving match. I’ve seen that look before. It’s not pretty.

I saw what had happened to cause the confrontation. As the house lights came up, the guests, who were already crowded in tightly in front of the stage began to leave quickly. There was a lot of bumping into one another. One of the ladies in the scuffle had accidentally tripped into the other woman’s mom.  I watched as her mama bear instinct kicked in. The reaction was swift and decisive. That’s when I got involved.

I got between them and told the one I was facing, “Whatever is going on, what you’re about to do isn’t worth it.”

To which she defended, “I was just trying to protect my mother from that b****!”

But I stayed on her eyes, “I saw that, but still, what you’re about to do isn’t worth it, and you might regret it. You’re better than that.”

She heard my words, looked down, then stepped away.

She just needed to be seen, and heard.

These are two fundamental human needs.  No one wants to be invisible and no one wants to be ignored. I relate to people out of this understanding now, especially toward women.  

Since childhood, each of us have craved to be noticed.  Twirling that new skirt in front of daddy. Putting on the impromptu play for all to see at the family reunion.  Showing off to mom how fast you are. Flexing arms in front of that new girl in 2nd grade. It’s always been there.

And it never goes away.