Single What? Female...

It finally happened - part deux

So I'm on the upper west side, as Trader Joe's has yet to go any father north than 72nd Street in NYC. The boy and I do our shopping, I get to the register, and, as I unload my groceries, M. at the counter looks down at Ben and says "How long have you been with him? Since birth, huh?" It's official. Someone not just thought I was the nanny. They said it out loud. Sadly, I had no clever comeback other than, "Well, yeah, I'm his mom..." to which she replied, mildly embarrassed. "Oh, man..I love race...you just never know..." For anyone who reads this and thinks that I dealt with some ignorant white woman, you'd be wrong. The lady at the counter was Latina. And mind you, while you see more actual moms than nannies than say, on the upper EAST side, you still have to go with the fact that I am a brown woman running around with a PINK child. And she is working at a store in a neighborhood where most likely more than half the babies that come in there are being brought in by nannies rather than their mothers. And those nannies, more often than not are black or brown ladies leading around white children. It's all too easy to jump to the conclusion. Heck, as I have written before, I have been WAITING for this to happen, and am pretty darn sure more people than not, think I'm the nanny. Personally, I cannot wait to take Ben to Scandinavia House for Scandinavian culture classes for toddlers. Facebook friends responded in a range from livid to clever. They all inspired the comeback I hope to use if it happens again: "Dammit! I did it again. All these strollers look a like. EXCUSE ME, WHO'S GOT MINE?!?" On to the next adventure... Peace -_Alex

posted by funkweee @ 10:16 AM