Say What?

I was steaming mad earlier today about a bothersome event I witnessed while grocery shopping at Safeway. As a means of catharsis, I am posting a blog about it.

I had to pick up a few things for dinner tonight and, with Mick's mum staying home with Jack, I was able to sneak out to do a very productive errand run. As I stood in line behind a woman who had a child (maybe 18 months old) in her cart, I heard the cashier ask her how many ears of corn she had in her produce bag. The woman looked a bit confused, gave a bit of an embarrassed smile, and shrugged. The cashier again said (loudly) "I said, how many ears of corn do you have?" This time, the woman picked up the bags and meekly handed them over to the cashier. At this point, the cashier dramatically rolled her eyes and said "I should know better than to even talk to you people... oh, I better watch what I say before I get into trouble." No one was with me to verify this, but I'm pretty sure that at this point, my jaw was hanging onto the floor. I could NOT believe it.

I stood silently by and watched the cashier aggressively throw this woman's groceries into her bag. When she finished the transaction, she said (as is customary) "do you need help out to your car?" and then about two seconds later said "I don't even know why I'm asking you - you obviously don't understand."

So why didn't the woman understand? Was she deaf? Was she mute? She may have been. However, I suspect the reason the cashier was so fuming mad and the reason she referred to the woman as part of a group of "you people" was because this woman was Hispanic. The cashier probably was annoyed that this woman could not speak (or understand?) English. But what if the reason she wasn't responding was because she was deaf? Or because she was visiting America briefly from South or Central America? I bet the cashier didn't consider these possibilities.

Anyway, as I stood watching this, I could feel myself getting angrier by the moment. As the cashier was sweeping my items through, I debated whether to say anything. I could hear Mick telling me not to cause a scene. But I could also feel my conscience saying that I couldn't possibly let this go. Isn't silence sometimes a sign that you condone what you've seen or heard?

So, as the cashier handed me my receipt and said "thank you, Mrs. Collins," I leaned in and, very quietly (so as not to make a scene) said very firmly "I hope you are never in a situation where you require some extra help. What you just did and said to that customer is appalling and you should be ashamed to have treated another person that way." She sort of stumbled through a lame "I'm sorry" which I barely heard as I was grabbing my bags and marching out of the store.

I then got into the car and had to take a few deep breaths before starting the engine. Why this bothered me so much, I don't know. But I did end up calling the store to speak with the manger. I suggested that the cashier engage in some cultural diversity training or, at the very least, be moved out of a customer relations position. I told this manager that because the customer (who looked so humiliated by the time she left that store) could not stick up for herself, I would do it for her. I think about how much more bothered I would have been had Jack seen that behavior and had understood what was happening. I would have had to have a long conversation with him, explaining that that is NOT how we treat other people. It's simply not kind. Sadly, this woman's young daughter was witness to her mother being humiliated in public.

So I've vented, and feel marginally better. I hope that the cashier is thinking as much about this situation as I am; maybe next time she'll make a more prudent choice when she speaks to someone who is (gasp!) different from her.

Boo at the Zoo

Kelly and I took Jack for his first trip to the zoo yesterday. Now, if you've ever been to a zoo, you'll know that they are filled with exotic animals from all over the world, including places outside of the U.S.

Fortunately, DC has one of the best collections of animals open to the public for free. However, if you're not able to get to the Natural History Museum, the National Zoo is a nice alternative. Given that it costs absolutely nothing to get in, you've gotten more than your money's worth if you see just 1 animal. Sounds easy, doesn't it?

Not so fast, my friends. The under-stocked zoo appears to have modeled itself on the fictional Noah's ark; two lions, two tigers, two elephants, two horses (didnt catch their scientific name). Animals left off the boat included the gorillas (evidently, the mist precluded their appearance).

Now to be fair, we did arrive at 1pm on a very warm Sunday. If I'm an orang-utan, I probably prefer the cool air indoors to the staring gaggle of apathetic fathers and increasingly dis-interested children.

In total, we spent about 2 hours there and saw...very little. Might I suggest we empty the contents of every U.S. zoo (San Diego, Grand Rapids, etc) and house all of the animals in a large expanse of land right in the middle of the country. Kansas perhaps. It's flat and within 3 hours of most North American airports. Where better to see the fascinating results of evolution?

Anyway, Jack seemed to enjoy himself, mainly through people-watching.

GOAL!

Thanks to a donation that just came in moments ago to the March for Babies, we've hit our fundraising goal of $1000. When included with the money raised by my parents and by Andy & Sarah and their team, we've raised over $3000 in Landon's memory, and that's just this year.

Again, thank you to everyone who has helped us reach our goal. It feels good to be able to honor Landon's life & death through real action that will help other families in similar situations.

Munchen Munchies

Kelly, Jack and I drove out to Sterling (just north of Dulles airport) tonight to meet up with a friend of mine from grad school. Jochen, a native of Germany, and I studied together at Virginia Tech and shared both an office and an affinity for oversize beers.

We havent seen eachother in 9 years, but due to the wonders of modern technology (1 email every 24 months) we've kept in touch. He was in town for business, we were in town because we live here, and Jack was in town because he loves the Buffalo Wing Factory, our chosen destination.

It was great to catch up with Jochen (now married with 3 children and a sales executive making regular trips from Munich to Latin America) and talk about how things have changed and yet remained the same.

Jack was great--he studied everyone around him before jumping up and down, chewing on Jochen's business card, and falling asleep in the car journey home.

NKOTB

One of the "benefits" of being home in the morning is that I get to watch inane morning television. For example, I am able to make fun of the "news" stories featured on the Today Show such as yesterday's big story that Miss California may be stripped of her crown (gasp, no!) because of some racy pictures of her that have been released. I often wonder if Matt Lauer goes home and cries because he's just posing as a real journalist.

Anyway, today, I got to see New Kids on the Block perform in the summer concert series on the Today Show. I was never a fan of them (probably one of the few 13-year-olds at the time who didn't have their posters all over my bedroom) so their appeal is a bit lost on me. However, I was able to crack a smile as I watched them hopping around on-stage while singing Hanging Tough. I was looking at them thinking, "man, they look like they're getting old." So I just googled Donnie Wahlberg (well, first I had to use Wikipedia to figure out the names of the band members since I'm clueless). He's 40! I guess that makes sense, given that I'm 32 but it was sort of a shock to my system that this "boy band" has actually aged.

Aquaman

Jack has now taken 2 swimming lessons at the local high school pool. In the first one, his expression varied from "teary" to "concerned". However, this past Wednesday, he took to swimmimg like a...um...fish to water. He splashed, kicked his feet, and even laughed! At one point, he looked purposefully at the water and dunked his head underneath, coming back up for air a second or two later.

Other than the water hovering around freezing (seriously, I saw a penguin float past me last week), both he and I are really enjoying our time in the pool together.