It has been a tremendous time with the boys. It has been nice chatting with them and listening to the changes in my son. He is now 21 and I see signs of maturity. Yes, boys take a little longer sometimes.
Lately with the girls busy schedules and our low budget, I have been cooking a lot for one lately. But this past week it has been great to put on the apron once again and cook up some hearty autumn meals that actually get eaten.
DesCartes is originally from Haiti (the side of the island opposite the destruction of the earthquake) but spend most of his life in Florida. However, I have been embarrassed at the reactions of the local population. Utah has only 1.4% blacks per capita to whites. I know why this is but that is another story. I had hoped however that the number had been climbing, not so. I also thought this state had become more tolerant.. also not so.
He and my son cannot leave the house without the heads turning. People are not shy. Five minutes standing in our yard, rubbernecking was incredible. It is as though he has skin as green as the ghost in Ghostbusters or that he has a neck that stretches out as ET's. I am embarrassed. I would not go so far as to say they are intolerant but it is so rude. He will not be here long enough to find out. But I am sad. I feel as though my community has been living in the dark ages. Intolerance- in any form, must stop.
There really is no excuse. I too was raised just five minutes from here. However, I don't see him any differently than the other young men. When my son said he was bringing a friend, I didn't have any mental images of what this friend might 'look' like. OK OK, I did wonder if it might be a female friend. :) As his last guest was.
We have teased that he has increased our numbers significantly, that he just may be number 8. And he is good hearted about it all. But why should he have to laugh about the color of his skin? Skin which by the way, is absolutely gorgeous. Just flawless.
But- it has been great having the boys here. Thank you in part to their superiors in the Army, the boys/men are extra polite and as a mother I am eating it up.
Contrast that to the few choice curse words which they also use much too frequently in the service. But I can live with it. And they censor themselves for me.
Nice to have some help with the heavy lifting too. I don't even have to ask to have the trash taken out or dishwasher filled.
Soon we will be traveling south to see my parents and we will see if the residents ogle any less.
Seriously, I await a day when we are all seen as equals here on US soil.
But on a less politically correct subject- Congratulations to my baby on making the drama council this year. We will be making a trip to see her performance in the Utah Shakespearean festival once again. It is a VERY big deal. You go girl!
That's too bad there isn't more tolerance there. When my daughter and I toured the U. of Michigan, we couldn't believe how many white people were walking around. We have ethnic diversity to the extreme in Silicon Valley. There is no majority group. We are all minorities here.
ReplyDeleteEnjoy your time with your son and his friend!