Saturday, February 03, 2007

Overheard Today


Today we were at Panera for lunch. The boys had their usual -- broccoli cheddar soup, multigrain baguette, and chocolate milk. We all had a great time. We were cleaning up our table and getting ready to leave. K & O were having a lot of fun helping Braydon put everything into the trash container. They were running back-and-forth between our table and the trash, while Braydon and I carefully monitored their every move on either end. The restaurant was packed and there were several full tables in between K & O's table-to-trash-and-back-route. In the middle of this was a table where two women and three children were seated. They were all white, and it appeared to be two moms having lunch out on a Saturday with their kids, who ranged in age from about 9-12, two boys and a girl. I was standing within earshot of their table and this is what I overheard:
```
Kid #1, a boy, about age 10 [pointing at Kyle and Owen]: "Look! There are two brown kids. And two white people."
```
[Kid #2 and Kid #3 are now staring at K & O, Mom #1 and Mom #2 are pretending to not hear Kid #1 and are pretending to not notice what the other two kids are now staring at]
```
Kid #1 [louder now]: "There are two brown kids. And two white people."
```
[Kid #2 and Kid #3 continue to stare at K & O, Mom #1 and Mom #2 continue to pretend to not hear or notice what the three kids are doing]
```
Kid #1 [really loud now, loud enough for everyone around to hear]: "There are two brown kids! With two white people!"
```
[Kid #2 and Kid #3 continue to stare at K & O, Mom #2 continues to pretend to not hear or notice]
```
Mom #1 [with her pointer-finger pressed up to her lips]: "Shhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!"
```
Kid #1 [really, really loud now]: "There are two brown kids! With two white people!"
```
Mom #1 [with her pointer-finger really exaggeratedly pressed up to her lips]: "I said Shhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!"
```
Kid #1 now silent.
```

1 comment:

The Uhrig Family said...

So sad that in this day and age the mom's couldn't have taken this opportunity to teach their children that families come in all shapes, sizes, and yes - color as well. A teaching opportunity missed for sure.