Pastoral Relationship with People with Intellectual ... - Theses

223The executive manager says to the manager, “I wonder what that ladywanted.”“Don’t know.”I go on my way towards the café and the executive manager and managerhead to the car park.Reflection and AnalysisI wonder about the term that lady.Sally has been living in this institution since the mid-1980s; the executivemanager has worked here since the mid-1990s. The executive manager has hisoffice only about 100 metres from Sally’s accommodation area. I wonder why itis that in the several years they have both shared in life here, not too far apart,Sally can remain so unfamiliar to this executive manager.It’s not even as if Sally is anti-social. She joins in activities, can often beseen looking for people with whom she can talk. She’s no shrinking violet. Andyet, whilst I know some administrators who may stop and talk to the people wholive here, this executive manager not only does not know her name but alsoappears to know nothing of her. How can that be?I don’t pretend to be above criticism when it comes to knowing or notknowing my neighbour. I’ve lived in my present house since 2001 and I barelyknow my neighbours, apart from the occasional “How ya goin?” and a briefconversation about rainwater tanks along fence lines.But a part of me thinks, perhaps naively, that if not for friendship, at leastin terms of effective decision-making, there would be merit in the executivemanager learning the names of those who live here, as well as something aboutthem. The lack of enthusiasm to discover what was concerning Sally suggeststhat the priorities of the executive staff lay elsewhere. The staff are employed tofulfil administrative roles that don’t specifically require personal liaison with orknowledge of accommodated people that denotes a measure of interpersonalidentification.Despite their spatial proximity to each other these staff and Sally arestrangers to each other. The very term that lady suggests a remoteness from theother.Speaking from the perspective of ethnic enmity Volf claims that weexclude others because we are uncomfortable with those we construct as