Freedom!
This past weekend of work was horrible. I can't begin to describe, because it will sound like I'm on drugs. People in loon hats. Flies on my desk. Millenials with attitude. Men barking like seals! And then somebody told me to turn off my 80s music. Enemy! Enemy!
But now I'm free and I spent the day with a putty knife, scraping off the dried Rice Krispies and red Play-Doh on the coffee table. (Now, that is a job with real visible reward.) We got a delivery from the grocery store. (What luxury!) And I took Lucy to the dentist for three fillings.
You might recall that a previous dentist had recommended six to seven fillings during a three-hour operation under general anesthesia. So I found a new dentist, and David took Lucy a few months ago, and she recommended two or three small fillings -- and then she gave Lucy a plastic man attached to a parachute.
"You want to come with me?" Lucy asked.
"Yes! I want to meet your dentist!" I said.
"You want to find out what color she is?" Lucy asked.
"Uh...What??!" I asked, furiously racking my brain. Have I ever said anything about anybody's color?? Ever?? No.
"Do you want to find out what color she is?" Lucy repeated.
"Uh, nooo..." I said. (Wwwweeeer! Wwweer! Teachable moment siren! Teachable moment!)"I don't care what color she is, I just care whether she's a good dentist," I said, very importantly. "She could be purple and that would be fine with me, if she takes good care of your teeth!"
Silence.
"She's not purple!"
"She's white."
I saw a snippet this weekend of a modern re-enactment of the famous black doll/white doll experiment, the one where little black girls too often say that they will play with the white doll because she's the "good" one. With that in mind, Lucy didn't say anything about her dentist being good and white, or bad and purple, but now I'm wondering what she thinks about race. Hm. I was kind of under the impression that she didn't think of it at all! In fact, I wouldn't have been sure that she even knew that some people were called White. I guess I was wrong.
But now I'm free and I spent the day with a putty knife, scraping off the dried Rice Krispies and red Play-Doh on the coffee table. (Now, that is a job with real visible reward.) We got a delivery from the grocery store. (What luxury!) And I took Lucy to the dentist for three fillings.
You might recall that a previous dentist had recommended six to seven fillings during a three-hour operation under general anesthesia. So I found a new dentist, and David took Lucy a few months ago, and she recommended two or three small fillings -- and then she gave Lucy a plastic man attached to a parachute.
"You want to come with me?" Lucy asked.
"Yes! I want to meet your dentist!" I said.
"You want to find out what color she is?" Lucy asked.
"Uh...What??!" I asked, furiously racking my brain. Have I ever said anything about anybody's color?? Ever?? No.
"Do you want to find out what color she is?" Lucy repeated.
"Uh, nooo..." I said. (Wwwweeeer! Wwweer! Teachable moment siren! Teachable moment!)"I don't care what color she is, I just care whether she's a good dentist," I said, very importantly. "She could be purple and that would be fine with me, if she takes good care of your teeth!"
Silence.
"She's not purple!"
"She's white."
I saw a snippet this weekend of a modern re-enactment of the famous black doll/white doll experiment, the one where little black girls too often say that they will play with the white doll because she's the "good" one. With that in mind, Lucy didn't say anything about her dentist being good and white, or bad and purple, but now I'm wondering what she thinks about race. Hm. I was kind of under the impression that she didn't think of it at all! In fact, I wouldn't have been sure that she even knew that some people were called White. I guess I was wrong.
posted by Mary Ellen at
1:33 PM
3 Comments:
Hi Mary Ellen!
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I found your site while searching for people interested in playing Scrabble on Facebook and want to invite you to be part of an exclusive closed BETA test of the new SCRABBLE® game for Facebook.
If you accept the invitation, I hope you’ll share your experience with your site’s readers. And, of course, we’d also love for you to share your thoughts on the game with us directly.
If you’re interested in becoming one of the first to play EA’s new SCRABBLE game for Facebook, simply reply (please list your blog name in subject line :) and I’ll send you quick directions for joining the BETA test.
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Victoria@rocketxl.com
I read your blog an I really enjoy it. I almost delurked once to suggest a good pair of shorts for your 10k, but then I thought that would be weird. Anyway, I had to laugh about the other commenter. Can scrabble conquer race relations? How many points can you get for inclusiveness?
I read in my new favorite book, "Freakonomics" that the single most significant determinant of childrens' character is not their parents but their peers. (The subtle day to day impact of thousands of small interactions between peers is a much stronger force than the occasional, large life lesson shoves that parents exert.) Perhaps we should ask what she and her cousins talked about this weekend while playing dolls upstairs at their house.
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