Luggage Woes

My friend, Ashok just had a rather rough trip getting back to India for a family funeral. He spent about 40 hours in the air, not counting layovers. And they lost his luggage. Travel can be so frustrating. It made me think of this little clip.

I'm All for Keeping Things All in the Family, but That's Just Creepy

I've had the same doctor for over half my life. His nurses all know me and they've been aware of all the things we've gone through on our road to adoption.

When I went to see him this last week, I took pictures of Malot and Jessica to show to the kind women who work there.

So there I am, at the nurse's station in the back of his office showing pictures to his two nurses. Of course, other nurses gather as well. I explain to the new arrivals that we're adopting from Haiti.

One of the women I've never seen before asks me if they were brother and sister. I say, "They will be..." and leave it for her to think about. That's one of those weird questions people often ask about adoptive children. I was prepared for it.

I wasn't prepared for what happened next.

The same woman asked something along the lines of, "Well, if they're not brother and sister, why are you getting both of them?" I explained that Malot kept talking about his friend Jessica, so we went back to the orphanage and found Jessica.

She looked at me, with this accusing eye and said rather condescendingly, "Well you KNOW they can't get married when they grow up, right??"

I pause for one heartbeat.... and I think to myself:

"Did she just say what I think she said? She must have, because that other nurse did a double-take and is now staring at her like she has weeds growing out of her nose. I'm guessing she heard the same thing I did. Who SAYS something like that? How am I supposed to respond to that? Think, Lori, think....I could say, "Well, that does it! If we can't sell their wedding presents to recover the costs of this adoption then I'm gonna call the whole thing off!" Is that too rude? Do I care? Seriously, he's FOUR and she's 18 months. Why, why, why would a person's mind even run in a direction where they would think we were expecting them to marry? What kind of idiot does she think I am? Actually, based on her question, I'm starting to believe there are a great many more types of idiots that I previously believed...."

...two heartbeats...

She was still staring at me, expecting a response to her bizarre question. I just looked at her steadily and said, "Yes, we're well aware of that."

Conversions

We all understand that there are 16 tbs in a cup. You can grasp the volume of each unit of measure and it makes sense.

We also "get" inches in a foot, centimeters in a meter.... you see where I'm going....

WHO ON EARTH decided that the conversion rate between DOLLARS and SKY MILES should be like 2 jagillion sky miles to one dollar???

What is up with that?

Maybe I Should Have Hugged Her and Rubbed a Bit of Haiti All Over Her...

The only time this last week that I wanted to put a child over my knee and beat them occurred on the last leg of my trip home. Our plane in Denver had some delays and we sat on the plane for a bit while those were resolved. Directly behind me were two of the most spoiled, self-centered, teenage girls I've ever seen. I won't tell you all the reasons they should be grounded for life, because this one ought to sum it up quite nicely.

They were watching the airport crew load the bags and things to prepare the plane. They made all sorts of comments, but the one that was the clincher was when the 13 year old said the following about one of the women on the ground crew for our plane. (picture the disdain in her voice)

"Oh... My... Word.... LOOK at that girl. She looks POOR!"

I can think of worse things than being poor, child. And she, at least, has the ability to work - an art that I'm sure has been lost on you.

Social Whiplash....

Some people are amazing. And then there are those that you just wonder about.

For those of you that don't personally know me, I'm 6' tall, size 11 shoe, pretty thin. Years ago, I was working in the physical therapy department of our local hospital. I worked in the spine treatment center, specifically. One day, I had a patient on the treadmill and as I walked over to check on her she said (in a snarky tone), "So, how BIG are your feet anyway??"

I'm not sure how one is supposed to respond to that. "Big enough, thank you very much for asking!"

This sort of thing - random comments from strangers - happens quite often in the world of "international adoptive families". When your family looks like a mini-United Nations, people are naturally curious. But sometimes, their questions are enough to give you social whiplash.

Take some friends of mine - they are both Causcasian and have two Haitian children. Noelle said that she'd be somewhere like the parking lot of the grocery story and notice someone staring at her and her children. As she'd pass them, they'd invariably yell something like 'Is your husband black?" And Noelle being Noelle would say, "No... is yours??"

But the one that takes the cake just happened yesterday to a friend of mine. This friend has a son who is about 6 or 7 and they're adopting a boy and a girl from Haiti. They've been to visit them twice and her son is thrilled about his new brother and sister (who only need a visa appointment before they can come home! Pray that the appointment is scheduled soon!!) Yesterday she had an appointment with a specialist that she sees about once per year. During the appointment, the doctor asked rather rudely if her biological son "even knew" that the children they were adopting were black.

Hmmm....


Seriously, what did she expect my friend to say?? "Are you kidding me?? When did Haitians get dark skin? This changes EVERYTHING! Thank you, Doctor!!"

So, what's your favorite social whiplash story?? Do tell...