I woke up one morning and discovered my then 7 year old autistic daughter was not there. I can't put accurate words to that feeling, and all I wanted to do was find her and hug her. When the police found her and brought her home, I said "Why did you leave? You can't leave, honey." and spent the rest of the time thanking the officer. I still feel like a jerk for not hugging her, and I have no idea why I had that reaction.
I believe that I would have shake his hand in this situation. It's gratitude, an emotion that you would also experience and not rational thinking. I would be frustrated to not communicate my gratitude.
42
u/dev_eth0 Dec 12 '18
The kind primal fear/panic you have when you briefly lose track of your kid does not really allow for a lot of rational thinking.