September 03, 2010

Just a Quick Comment on “Doing My Part”

I was at Trader Joe's the other day with my son, Kamari, when a staff person (a 20-something, bi-racial woman) came over to help pack up my groceries. Since they were almost already packed up, the cashier looked at her as if to say, thanks but we don’t need your help. She looked at him, threw some items in a bag, and then said to me: “I just came over to see the brown baby.” She followed it up with, “Are you doing your part to keep Portland brown?”

I couldn’t stop laughing. I thought her comment was funny…and odd…and clearly one I had not heard before. I replied that in fact I was, and that I had an even browner child at home. She laughed and offered to help me out with my groceries. Meanwhile, the cashier just stood there looking at us both like we were nuts.

Had she been white, I think I might have been offended by the comment. Or at least, confused. But, I suppose she felt she had the right to be so brazen with her comment because she and my son have about the same skin color. I don’t know. And perhaps on a different day, I would have been taken aback.

As it happened, on that day, coming from her nonchalant, no-nonsense mouth, I found it humorous. Maybe I found the comment amusing because in our family, we don’t refer to ourselves as black or white. My daughter and I talk about skin color often and we describe Ava as “latte colored,” mommy (me) as “the color of milk,” daddy is “cream colored” and Kamari is “caramel colored.”

In any case, I think I’ll make myself a t-shirt that says, “Doing my part to keep Portland brown.” Ha!

4 comments:

Polly said...

enjoyed your post!
blessings,
Polly

Laura said...

Hi Mrs. Drew!
Would you be willing to share you story of adoption?

I am a publicist for a parenting and culture webzine called SixSeeds. (www.sixseeds.tv)

One of our editors recently adopted a baby girl from Ethiopia, and the event has inspired us at the webzine to devote the entire month of November to all things adoption related!

One (of the many) initiatives we are hoping to accomplish is to build a list of blog resources for our readers… and I’d love to include 'Flowers and Weeds'! I’m reaching out to a select group of bloggers, asking you to share your adoption story with our readers. We’ll link to your blog when we post your story on our site.

Also, for every comment that gets posted on your story, SixSeeds will donate $1 per comment to a charity of your choice. Of course, an adoption-related charity would be great, but feel free to choose any charity that is close to your heart. :)

Please let me know if you’d be willing to share your story and I’ll send you the questionnaire form! Or if have questions, feel free to give me a call to discuss further: 562.652.5306.

Looking forward to hearing from you! Thanks!
Laura
laura@storytellerpr.com

ps. No need to post this comment... i just couldn't find an email address for you on your site. :)

acceptance with joy said...

LOL. It's great.

looking to adopt said...

That's amazing!! I think you should DEF get a shirt made!

Thank you for your blog btw - I'm looking to adopt in a few years and I've learned so much by reading about your experiences!!