One of the saddest Thanksgivings

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12 years ago, I went on vacation with family and happened to fly back on Thanksgiving Day so no turkey dinner. When I sat on the plane, there was a mom with two children who were boarding that sat next to me. I eagerly looked forward to talking to the two kids but the mother hen put a stop to it.
When asking what they did, she coldly told me, "She's not talking to strangers." I could not talk to them or touch them. So the entire flight I was quiet and read though I was in tears because my feelings got hurt.

Note, it's been a long time since this has happened and I have been over it for a long time. However, it's come to mind today and I need to find out what is triggering this.

Any thoughts on this?

Last edited by Summer_Twilight on 06 Aug 2018, 9:26 am, edited 1 time in total.

It's been 12 years -- time to get over it and move on.

I have but for some reason, it came to mind today but I don't know what's triggering it today.

Maybe this has been resolved, but something in your periphery triggered it. Did you see somebody get shot down trying to socialize? Just a guess, but it seems like a trauma that has lodged itself into your memory. It usually passes, but if it doesn't, talk to someone about it, if you can.

It did and I figured out what it was, it made me sad because the world has gotten to be so crazy and mean that it scares people to mistrust each other. It's so bad you can't get along on Thanksgiving.

IMO a blanket ban on talking to strangers is one of the most clueless things a parent can do for their child's social and emotional development.

like, how do you think people get to know each other? all non-familial loved ones were strangers at some point.

What was weird is that we were on an airplane and it wasn't like we were going anywhere and I had no desire to make off with her little kids. The only adults who were allowed to talk to and touch them were the flight attendants.

The only reason why I think she was scared was maybe that airports can be major hubs for human trafficking or maybe she was not even their mom but a caregiver and perhaps she didn't want to the kids talking to strangers because their parents were not there. Whoever she was, she seemed to put on heirs.