I don't know...I think she is coming down kinda hard on April. I probably would have done the same thing as she did, guilty conscious over eating something in front of them. But I probably would have shared instead of given the whole thing. :) I still think she came down on April too hard.
Yeah, I think that's over the top too. Kids everywhere, rich or poor, mooch food off of adults. And adults give it to them not because we think they're starving, but because they're kids and it's hard to refuse them. I doubt most observers would be offended, or that April would be so mousy.
Hmm, maybe April is being a bit too easily upset here. But there's more to come, with a bit regarding why Adanna has something of a chip on her shoulder. (The tag *does* say "general foobishness" - that can be Adanna just as much as April.)
April should be very well versed in dealing with people who make something out of nothing by now.
I live in Brooklyn, not a third-world country, but I let neighbor kids have strawberries from my terrace box or a couple cookies when I'm baking all the time.
Can't wait to find out what's going on with Adanna. Poor April, to go clear across the world and run into more Foobishness! :-)
So, the lesson here is that giving little kids a snack is an evil, judgmental act, and that April must be raked over the coals for not being a suspicious, calculating type?
Whoever this new character is should GET OVER THEMSELVES.
I'd never give kids the candy bar I was eating. I might give them a couple M&Ms or something -- maybe. Who knows what kind of allergies they have, or what their parents would want them to have. It's not like April knew those kids. Besides, it's MY candy bar.
I thought what April did was pretty thoroughly dumb, and she totally needed someone to tell her so. It's very different from sharing out fruit or cookies with the neighborhood kids. April gave them her food -- all of it -- because she thought they needed it. They could pull a whole lot of crap on her if she keeps up that attitude, and that wouldn't help anyone.
There are plenty of ways April could have been told "Be careful about how and when you share snacks with the kids" without a heavy-handed, down-the-nose, out-of-the-blue lecture. She got enough of that from Elly, and it only left her angry and alienated.
Good points from all. I wasn't trying to make either one be all right or all wrong here. Trouble is, neither April nor Adanna really knows where the other is coming from.
Isn't there a saying: be kind - you don't know what someone else is struggling with? They probably both could use a reminder of that.
Trying to decide which of the Foobs we see here is that foobiest is a judgment call. Is it the Foob from away who thought she was being generous or the local Foob who was screaming about being patronized by an imperialist running-dog whatchamahoozit? My take is that all have won and all should have prizes.
I have to step in to defend this new character--I think what she did was exactly in line. She might have been a bit over the top, but how many times has she been through this same thing with the do-gooding (who don't really know how to do good) students she sees? I'm totally on her side. I've had similar experiences at a homeless center for teens and I understand the desire to "help" by being a pushover and doing what the kids want you to do, but, in the end, that sort of behavior is bad for you, and bad for them. Presumably, April had learned about doing this sort of thing in an orientation (I can't imagine a program like this wouldn't have an orientation), and was disregarding the lessons.
Delurking to say I'm really enjoying how this aspect of April's trip parallel's with Liz's Jesse problems. Except that fortunately here, there was someone to nip things in the bud. You've been saying how April and Mike will have a lot in common after this trip and that might be true, but now so do the girls!
Is Adanna going to have a talk with the kids about not taking advantage of the new volunteers? While April should have not given up the whole bar, if the kids are fairly well fed, their parents would probably not like knowing they took advantage of an easy mark. How many people here could sit and eat a candy bar in front of 2 kids acting hungry, without sharing?
In the original FBOFW, April would have been painted as a Good Person who did a Heroic, Unselfish Deed. What I love about this is that it's a) so different from anything LJ would do and b) reminds us that being a martyr isn't always the way to go. Good job!
Shegar, that's an excellent idea - or at least telling the teachers at the school to remind the children about it. But I don't think I'll end up drawing it.
In the original FOOB, April would haev been praised for her actions because the children involved are brown and not from the suburbs, therefore they must be poor and tragic and thankful for the intervening of Pattersaint to save them (but of course with a valuable lesson about being grateful for life to deliver). I like that a non-white, non-Canadian child is presented as being something other than a tragic "project" for a Pattersaint to throw some meaningful gestures at.
(That's colour fills for Adanna in panel 1, and pencils in the other panels.)
17 comments:
I don't know...I think she is coming down kinda hard on April. I probably would have done the same thing as she did, guilty conscious over eating something in front of them. But I probably would have shared instead of given the whole thing. :) I still think she came down on April too hard.
Yeah, I think that's over the top too. Kids everywhere, rich or poor, mooch food off of adults. And adults give it to them not because we think they're starving, but because they're kids and it's hard to refuse them. I doubt most observers would be offended, or that April would be so mousy.
Hmm, maybe April is being a bit too easily upset here. But there's more to come, with a bit regarding why Adanna has something of a chip on her shoulder. (The tag *does* say "general foobishness" - that can be Adanna just as much as April.)
April should be very well versed in dealing with people who make something out of nothing by now.
I live in Brooklyn, not a third-world country, but I let neighbor kids have strawberries from my terrace box or a couple cookies when I'm baking all the time.
Can't wait to find out what's going on with Adanna. Poor April, to go clear across the world and run into more Foobishness! :-)
So, the lesson here is that giving little kids a snack is an evil, judgmental act, and that April must be raked over the coals for not being a suspicious, calculating type?
Whoever this new character is should GET OVER THEMSELVES.
I'd never give kids the candy bar I was eating. I might give them a couple M&Ms or something -- maybe. Who knows what kind of allergies they have, or what their parents would want them to have. It's not like April knew those kids. Besides, it's MY candy bar.
I thought what April did was pretty thoroughly dumb, and she totally needed someone to tell her so. It's very different from sharing out fruit or cookies with the neighborhood kids. April gave them her food -- all of it -- because she thought they needed it. They could pull a whole lot of crap on her if she keeps up that attitude, and that wouldn't help anyone.
There are plenty of ways April could have been told "Be careful about how and when you share snacks with the kids" without a heavy-handed, down-the-nose, out-of-the-blue lecture. She got enough of that from Elly, and it only left her angry and alienated.
I've known people from Africa who are that blunt actually.
Good points from all. I wasn't trying to make either one be all right or all wrong here. Trouble is, neither April nor Adanna really knows where the other is coming from.
Isn't there a saying: be kind - you don't know what someone else is struggling with? They probably both could use a reminder of that.
Trying to decide which of the Foobs we see here is that foobiest is a judgment call. Is it the Foob from away who thought she was being generous or the local Foob who was screaming about being patronized by an imperialist running-dog whatchamahoozit? My take is that all have won and all should have prizes.
I have to step in to defend this new character--I think what she did was exactly in line. She might have been a bit over the top, but how many times has she been through this same thing with the do-gooding (who don't really know how to do good) students she sees? I'm totally on her side. I've had similar experiences at a homeless center for teens and I understand the desire to "help" by being a pushover and doing what the kids want you to do, but, in the end, that sort of behavior is bad for you, and bad for them. Presumably, April had learned about doing this sort of thing in an orientation (I can't imagine a program like this wouldn't have an orientation), and was disregarding the lessons.
Delurking to say I'm really enjoying how this aspect of April's trip parallel's with Liz's Jesse problems. Except that fortunately here, there was someone to nip things in the bud. You've been saying how April and Mike will have a lot in common after this trip and that might be true, but now so do the girls!
Is Adanna going to have a talk with the kids about not taking advantage of the new volunteers? While April should have not given up the whole bar, if the kids are fairly well fed, their parents would probably not like knowing they took advantage of an easy mark. How many people here could sit and eat a candy bar in front of 2 kids acting hungry, without sharing?
In the original FBOFW, April would have been painted as a Good Person who did a Heroic, Unselfish Deed. What I love about this is that it's a) so different from anything LJ would do and b) reminds us that being a martyr isn't always the way to go. Good job!
Shegar, that's an excellent idea - or at least telling the teachers at the school to remind the children about it. But I don't think I'll end up drawing it.
In the original FOOB, April would haev been praised for her actions because the children involved are brown and not from the suburbs, therefore they must be poor and tragic and thankful for the intervening of Pattersaint to save them (but of course with a valuable lesson about being grateful for life to deliver). I like that a non-white, non-Canadian child is presented as being something other than a tragic "project" for a Pattersaint to throw some meaningful gestures at.
Yeah, that is a good example of when to tell and not show.
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