Written and Edited - July 3rd, 2017 - 4:30 pm to 4:57 pm
Written and Edited - July 7th, 2017 - 9:15 pm to 9:26 pm
The Jew Meets Wasps and Gets Stung
Jim taught me how he mowed the lawn. I think maybe I saw him mow the lawn or saw the results. And I might have asked him how he mowed the lawn. Because Jim mowed the lawn in a square which was different from the way I knew or was taught. I was taught to mow the lawn going up and down the lawn or back and forth.
One time, when I mowed the lawn Jim said he'd pay me if I mowed the lawn.
At one point I saw a weird thing on the ground. The way I remember it was that the thing was beige with lots of holes in and around it. I didn't know what it was at the time. And it was on the ground, in the backyard, maybe a few feet or so from the back pantry. I didn't feel malicious but kind of an ignorant curiosity, at least consciously.
So I ran over this thing (which I learned later was a honeycomb) with the lawnmower. Before I knew it I got stung all over my body.
I remember lying in my bed recovering. Jim and I went back and forth verbally. Jim said I'll pay you. I said that's ok, I didn't finish mowing the lawn. I wanted to be humble and modest like Jim. So I took my mental note cue from Jim.
And just a split second before I was going to say ok I'll take the money, Jim said ok I won't pay you.
And now, July 3rd, 2017 I want to apologize for the beings that I killed, disrupted their home and/or did other harms to them.
I don't know if they were bees, wasps or something else. I might have taken creative license with this title.
I just remember that I got stung all over my body and was in excruciating pain.
But I think that experience reflects other aspects too.
Just like I ran over the nest in ignorance, I think we run over people and other beings out of ignorance sometimes.
And I was diagnosed with autism about 36 years after that experience. So I wonder about various aspects related to me, the nest, my mental and developmental states. So I've reflected some here. But I think we can continue to reflect about various aspects of that experience by itemizing details and looking at it wholistically.