The lady in front of me at the grocery store chatted with the young man at the check-out. He seemed like a nice guy, barely out of high school, kind, straightforward. The woman told him all about her daughter, who “once had her head on straight” but “like all teens had her time of rebellion and tried drugs, alchohol, and sex and let her grades go.”
The young man gave the appropriate sympathetic responses. Then the woman said, “but she’s over all that now.”
“You mean she was able to just quit?” he asked, obvious shock on his face.
The woman responded, “well, no, she didn’t quit all that, but her grades are back up. She’s a good student.”
I tell you, my heart broke on that conversation. Since when is getting grades up the answer to the pain this young girl is trapped within?
I don’t understand a society that tries to believe all is okay as long as someone is performing well. What’s up with that?
I suppose the mom could just be clinging to whatever hope she can find in this difficult time, but I hurt for her and her daughter. I hurt that the mom was trying to make it okay that her daughter was involved in alcohol, drugs, and sex as long as her grades were good.
I’m praying they’ll find more to put their hope in than a report card.
