and came across a passage about a new head nurse at a nursing home. All the nursing home residents felt was this new nurse mean. They were afraid of her. One morning this dialogue took place between two residents about the nurse:"'But what's wrong with her?'
'Nothing,' said Miss Taylor, 'except that she is afraid of those old people.'
'She is afraid? I thought you said the patients were afraid of her.
'It comes to the same thing,' said Miss Taylor.'"
It got me to thinking about how fear comes disguised. In this instance it is disguised as meanness. It can be disguised as anger, arrogance, or aloofness. Sometimes, fear is disguised as withdrawal--withdrawal from another person or group of people. These are but a few of fear's many faces. There are others. All these behaviors are defensive reactions---they defend (protect) the individual from either showing his/her fear or most often of even experiencing his/her own fear So, the next time you see one of these behaviors in people, ask yourself if fear could be what is behind it.
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