Erin Miller

Missing the forest for the trees

I have really enjoyed my time spent working at WIC. One of the greatest advantages of the job has been an opportunity to improve my Spanish proficiency through working with our very patient, understanding, and helpful Spanish-speaking clients. I have recently come to the conclusion that the most difficult aspect of the job is counseling -- determining what information and which words will be most valuable to a person I am trying to help. Learning a new language and learning about nutrition, and teaching, are all things that I have had experience with in the past. But counseling has been a new challenge. I have recently become impressed and alarmed with my ability to miss the forest for the trees. I often overlook the largest problem facing a client and therefore prohibit any real communication. The other day a beautiful, blue-eyed, fifteen-year-old pregnant girl stared at me from across my desk. She looked at me as if the sky was about to fall down on her. Her beautiful eyes looked at me like a deer in headlights. And I carelessly went on to tell her about the importance of getting enough calcium and the benefits of breastfeeding, even though I sensed that she couldn't hear me. She needed someone to touch her shoulder and tell her that everything was going to work out, the kind of thing that everyone needs to hear every now and then. And at the time, I was so consumed by the information I wanted to share with her, that I missed it. I failed to comfort her and we both just wasted our time staring at each other. Later the same day, a woman came into my cubicle with her two and half year-old who was crying. "Why is she crying?" I asked. "Oh, she's just hungry." I suggested the snack machine downstairs and blindly continued to give the mother information on limiting juice intake and taking her child to the dentist. I never even asked if she needed a referral to an emergency food pantry. How could I have overlooked the obvious problem of a child crying because she was hungry?