Now, don't judge me to quickly by my title. I am white and I am
ok with that. I did however have three uncomfortable experiences today which will help
explain my
ridiculous title.
So, we are at
Sams Club, looking for the "ladies" (aka the people who hand out free samples), buying milk and then stopping to eat hot dogs before we leave. I love to have the kids eat
sams club hot dogs and then go home for naps--I
don't have to make lunch, or clean up afterward; lunch is just one meal too many for me sometimes.
We are sitting and the girls are enjoying their hot dogs and soda, while I am holding Cole and he is enjoying his drink of water through a straw.
Telise cuts her toes at some point, but she doesn't realize it when she does it, just when she sits down and starts playing with her shoes, she puts her foot on the table to show off her pathetic toe and so i remind her that feet do not go on tables. She bends her knee and puts her foot on the bench next to her. The man at the table next to us covers his eyes and starts to loudly say "mam, mam" in my direction. I look at him and he informed me that the little girl should be covering herself with her skirt, and that he's afraid of what he might be able to see.
(Thought: She has shorts on underneath, she's five, you must be a pervert if this is so uncomfortable for you--heck, she's just trying to nurse her bloody toe).
I told him that i thought there were shorts underneath and that she hurt her toe. He tells me that he doesn't know if there are shorts, he hasn't looked, he doesn't want to look.
I calmly ask
Telise to please put her leg down (
Telise's eyes met might with a look of confusion and worry that she was in trouble-poor kid--one more thing boys never have to think about--well, except for this guy)
AND THAT WAS UNCOMFORTABLE SITUATION NUMBER ONE........and on to number two.
We continue to enjoy our gourmet lunch when the same man says to me "It is great to see such a nice family" I am already
leery of this guy and if I weren't outnumbered 3 to 1 i would have probably gotten up and changed table by now, so i quietly reply "thanks" to which he......(interjection:I have to
apologize for even putting this into print, it was bad enough to experience it, anyways, here goes:) he continues, "It is great to see such a nice white family (thought: did he just call us a white family--I
don't think I have ever been defined as such before, and
don't worry, he continues:), so many couples today are
interracial and mixed. It is great to see such a pure WHITE (there's that word again) family."
to which I reply, ____________(i had many thoughts of what to say, I remember thinking, he isn't the type to back down or even listen and me with three kids in tow would have taken 20 minutes to get us all out of there anyways. I didn't speak up, in some ways I wish I had, I was so taken back by his remarks and so shocked that i didn't know what to do. I think i would have been more ready to deal with this remark had i not just dealt with the whole skirt issue and i was weirded out by him before any of this--it does help that my girls are too young to understand any of what he said--i think if their perceptions were on the line I wouldn't have hesitated) I ignored him, did not respond and started
goading my girls to eat faster and faster so we could get the heck out of here.
AND THAT WAS
UNCOMFORTABLE SITUATION NUMBER 2 (I do have to admit that when he started saying these things, i thought--pure race huh, i love my kids, but one has to wonder if races were mixed more, would
cole's disease exist less since 2/3
rds of those with his disease are white males?--random thought i know)and on to situation three....
The girls finally finish their
hot dogs and are shocked at mom's leniency on how much they had to eat(I had to be lenient, i wanted out of there as fast as possible). We stand up and start to load everyone into the cart when this man's wife yells out "god bless you and yours"(did i fail to mention that his wife and daughter were there for the entire event?) and i say goodbye when the man speaks up again (thought: What more could this man have to say to me? really, what else would there possibly be?)"your husband must be proud"
AND THAT WAS SITUATION NUMBER 3
WHAT? Proud of what? Proud I am white, proud his kids came out white?
Newsflash, this just in, when you are white and your husband is white and there is no
infidelity--the kids are.......wait for it......WHITE. I hope
paul is proud I am white, I have worked so hard to be that. Thank heavens some man on the street is noticing all my sacrifices and rewards me on my whiteness (that was sarcasm, in case you couldn't tell)
yes, i am white, yes, my kids are white, and yes my husband is white....WHO CARES? SERIOUSLY? WHO
CARES? I am a person, i am a child of God, I am equal to everyone else and
don't congratulate me on something i was born with, on something I cant control. IS it possible to be proud of someone for nothing? For just existing in a certain color skin. I have so much more to me than the color of my skin.
I have said before how harsh i think some people can be on the white race as a whole. If everyone they met was like this man, you might think their words would be justified, but if you look a little deeper you would think that would leave a taste in their mouth of wanting to be compassionate to all people no matter what their race.
Cinderella
