Sunday, November 6, 2011

The Kindness of Strangers


My youngest sister’s youngest child is biracial; my sister and her husband are Caucasian. She often takes Mouse* with her when she goes to see my dad (as you can imagine, an adorable big-eyed toddler is a huge hit in a nursing home).

They were leaving after the last visit when one of the aides said firmly “Mrs W? We need to talk about that child’s hair!”

She handed my sister a bag of African-American hair products and proceeded to give her a quarter hour of detailed instructions on how to use them, ending with “And when you are ready to begin braiding, I’ll show you how.”

7 comments:

  1. As a Costume Designer with a mixed race cast and me being white, I could use the help of this woman!
    I never mean to offend my kids but I do not have a clue how to style
    their hair!

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  2. What a lovely person to help out like that.

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  4. Until we got Mouse, I had really had no clue that hair-care products were race-based for a reason! Talk about "Duh"....especially since every roommate I had in the BOQ (Bachelor Officer's Quarters) before I got married was African-American.

    (except for the guy who was Dutch and he was a clerical error. He was kind of happy while it lasted, though).

    GDad, the ladies who take care of my father are beautiful people, inside and out. Plus I think they got tired of looking at that poor child's hair.

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  5. A *toddler* needs a *bag* of black hair care products? Isn't that a little early to worry about such things? Sounds like this lady also sells them on the side. Like an Avon lady for A-A hair care! I bet that's a great business opportunity.

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  6. panavia, every child needs to take care of their hair-my mother did mine in braids until I was ten! Whatever it takes to keep it neat and attractive!

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  7. Panavia -- she needed something. Her hair was a frizzy mess.

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