Equal opportunity crybabies

 I was sitting in the sand at the water’s edge when a dad began playing with his two children.  They included a girl of about 6 and a 2 year old boy.  The little girl was close to shore practicing with a brand new boogie board, and her brother was gathering pebbles.  At one point one of those bigger waves that seem to pop out of nowhere spilled her off the boogie board and onto her knees in the shallow water.  In addition, board and girl had gone over the top of the little boy and shoved his face into the sand.  Both children ran crying to their father.  Dad immediately picked up his daughter and began reassuring her, while his baby boy, still spluttering sand, hung onto his leg.  At one point he patted his son’s head, telling him he was okay and that there was no need to cry.  What I found so striking about this incident is that the much younger boy had certainly gotten the worst of it; and that the father gave me the distinct impression he was a good and caring parent who was trying to do the right thing by both children. No doubt he was passing along to his children what he had been taught.  To deny our boys (and men) the right to express the full range of human emotions:  that’s discrimination.