I have never been so embarrassed to be an Albertan as when my family and I attended Westerner Days this year.
While walking the fair way with my husband and daughters, a group of young men bumped into my husband and one of them shouted “Gibble!”
For those of you who are not aware, this is a derogatory term for someone with a disability.
My husband, through no fault of his own, was born without his left hand.
My husband was holding my two-year-old’s hand at the time and kept walking without saying anything as he did not want to cause a scene in front of his children.
I, on the other hand, had trouble containing myself and it took everything I had not to shout out through the crowd after this boy.
What in the world was he thinking?
What type of parents does this boy have that he thinks things like this are OK to say to people?
And what in the world makes him think it is OK to say things like that in front of someone’s children?
So to the parents of this young man, all I have to say is: Shame!
I sincerely hope that my daughters will never have to face this kind of criticism and bullying from a stranger for no other reason than sheer ignorance.
Rebecca Stendie
Blackfalds