Fat women. Small men. Amputees. The mentally retarded. The handicapped. People who walk funny. People who dress funny. People who are pregnant. People who talk with accents. People whose children are throwing tantrums. People wearing thick glasses, braces with headgear or oxygen tubes. Really old people. Really thin people. Midgets. Giants. People with scars or birthmarks or huge moles.

Don’t stare at them. Don’t talk about them until you’re in the car with the door closed. Don’t objectify them. These are people, real flesh-and-blood human beings. They feel, they think, they bleed, and they appreciate the same courtesy that you expect to receive. Make brief eye contact with them if you’d do that with anyone, ignore them if that’s what you do in general. You’re not at the circus and they’re not sideshows; they’re citizens just like you, trying to make it through another day.

They may have a few comments themselves: Does your mother hate you, or did you dress yourself today? Didn’t that eye makeup go out of style in the 1920s? Is that your face, or did your neck throw up? Do you kiss your mother with that mouth? They usually keep thoughts like this to themselves, though. People who are treated like circus freaks have generally learned some empathy, or at least good manners.

Speaking of good manners, please teach some to your children. Contrary to what you may have read in Pretentious Parents magazine, other people DO mind being object lessons for your offspring. Of course small children are curious about everything – teach them the meaning of the term “out of earshot.” People can see the pointing, and can hear “what’s wrong with THEM?” Pay attention to how critical you are of strangers’ appearances when your kids are listening. Think about whether this is behavior you want them to copy. Help your children to imagine what it might feel like to travel a mile in someone else’s wheelchair.

Mind your own business. Unless you’re a doctor in your own consulting room, nobody wants your advice. If you see someone with six children, it’s okay to smile and say, “It looks like you’ve got your hands full!” It’s NOT okay to say, “Haven’t you ever heard of birth control?”

Think whatever you want. It’s your privilege, and your right. Joke about physical abnormalities with your friends, draw cartoons, write a book, develop a stand-up routine.

But when you’re in public, please practice kindness and basic human decency. You might receive a little in return.