"Erin, my toy heart is still here, in the back seat of your car. "
"I know, Mir, would you like it back?"
"No, I want it to stay here with you. My heart will keep you safe when you're driving your car."
Conversation between Mir (age 5) and myself this evening.
"You know, if you don't accept Jesus Christ as your Savior, you will forever be banished to the pits of hell. Aren't you afraid of that?"
"I'll take that up with God later, right now I'm more or less concerned about you blocking the entrance to my home."
"God doesn't like your sense of humor."
"And I suppose He sent you to tell me that..."
(At which point African neighbor who I have not yet met ( I told you there were several) opened his door and with thick accent says, "She very nice MIXED girl. Please leave."
I thanked him and felt there was no need to correct him. As I walked up the stairs he headed out to his Lexus (what happened to the 92 prelude?!?!?) he yelled up at me, "I don't care what you say, you've got some black in you..." and got in his car.
Unless my parents have been hiding something from me.......My brother always said I was adopted ;-)
The New PostSecret Book
9 years ago
12 comments:
I always knew you was a sistah :)
J-Boy
this is hilarious! Are you looking drastically different these days? I love the saga of the 'neighbors who think you're mixed'. It's like straight out of a good sitcom.
in other news....you'll be happy to know we may be signing B up for tennis lessons in the fall.
He's ready to be 'signed up' for something; and tennis seems to be the best fit right now.
Jul- Yea Tennis! I'm sure he'll look adorable with a little tennis racket... Make sure he doesn't swat L though.-- I was teaching Mir to twirl a baton and she promptly threw it up and it landed on Sammy...
Still look the same as when I saw you last, with the exception of a few blonde highlights and a tan? My hair does seem to get curlier each year, but still not up to the Pino level of curl!
It never ceases to crack me up that people INSIST that you're "mixed." Almost with violent insistence, even.
Someone seriously said, "God doesn't like your sense of humor"?!? Unbelievable!
As for your heritage: Hmmm...You, Matt & I all have the same nose as Dad. So the "mixing" must come from the Wiesgarber side. Both Marg & Grandma W had curls, so you may have to trace it pretty far back ;-)
Tracy- I know, crazy right? He was professing to be a minister of some revival something or other. I couldn't help but think of "Brother Love's Traveling Salvation Show." I'm sure bursting into song wouldn't have helped my sense of humor...
You never know tracy-- Dad DID get really tan in the summers and I think I have his hair as opposed to my mom's. (hers is course, dad's was softer.) And how much do we really know about Martha (wasn't that his mom's name? ;-)
I think a sitcom about you would be an excellent idea. And David Allan Grier can play the part of the wacky South African neighbour :)
TW
We'd have to develop a stronger plot line... All I'd have to do is show them pics of myself as I baby with my towhead blondness to dispell any thoughts about my race!
The plot-line could involve conflict from the (evil?) photo-shop expert who colorizes all of your baby & childhood pix with just enough mocha/burnt umber to cause doubt. This same evil genius would then start sneaking into Matt & Julie's house and spraying baby Maggie with self-tanner to put her heritage in doubt as well! Uh-Oh this might be changing from sit-com to movie-of the week. Or better yet, a LifeTime movie!
The mixed-girl confusion could just be one of several running jokes for the sitcom... And if you were unable to convince your neighbour of your ethnicity when asked, I'm not sure why you think a tow-headed baby picture would make a difference. After all, in my baby pictures, my hair looks pretty straight, but that's because, like a lot of Jamaicans, I'm a nice mixed boy :)
If anything, your neighbours' refusal to accept your ethnicity in the face of mounting evidence would make the joke *funnier* So I think we're on to something here: it's time to talk to NBC about a new generation of Must See TV...
TW (aka JB)
I don't think I can handle being a lifetime MOW (Movie-of-the-week) punch-line!
JB- you raise a valid point. Perhaps when I go home next I'll take one baby pictures and post it, so you can see what I'm talking about ;-)
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