I met a lady outside my house the other day. She started questioning about the fact that the girls weren't in school, emphasis on the big girls. She muffled a lot and I thought her disposition somewhat unstable so I nodded politely and tried to hurry away.
She continued nonetheless. But shut up when we got to the end of the road and there happened to be a police car and a policeman standing there and she said very loudly all of a sudden: do people have to check on you or something? Do legal people (her words not mine) come to your house and tell you to stop? I smiled sweetly and said, no, it's completely legal actually, I am not a criminal! Fancy that! She nearly fell over and I smiled at the policeman who smiled back and got into his car - to be honest I think he was concerned more about the old lady than myself. She darted off in a different direction hopefully feeling ashamed of herself but who knows.
I haven't come across anyone like this for a long while and it made me think how much stronger I am now about these things now than when I first home educated. Writing about past events similar to these has made it easier to find the words, to keep calm and not take it personally. It made me smile really; I'm still astounded by how completely ignorant people can be and arrogant to think they are somehow better than us (the rest of society that is), thinking themselves part of the law itself. She left with egg on her face, I just hope she noticed.
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