Frederick! Did you see that?!
Today I went shopping at everyone's favorite place, Wal-Mart. Actually, I wasn't shopping, I was accompanying a friend of mine (an older friend) who happens to have an 11-month-old. We were pushing him around in the stroller and picking up groceries when I had a genius idea for an experiment. I took the stroller and offered to pick up the rest of the groceries while the mom shopped. I wanted to see how people would react to a teenager grocery-shopping in Wal-Mart with what they would assume is her son.
Dang. I can't believe I haven't thought of this before. People would give me the dirtiest looks... one couple even whispered as they walked by. Some would smile at the baby, then their eyes would travel upward and their faces would change at the sight of his teenaged "mom." Of course, it didn't help that I would walk past people saying things like, "Now what do we need? Mommy forgot her shopping list today." Wow. It was crazy. The older women shopping with their husbands were the worst, as far as dirty looks go.
To those who would look questionable as parents and are able to get hooked up with a baby, I would highly recommend doing this. It definitely changed my perspective, as I never realized what it would be like to be one of the people I inadvertently condemn. I don't think I'll ever look at a teenage mom the same way again. I don't condone teenage pregnancy, but I also never realized how hard it is to experience that. It's interesting, really, to look from the perspective of any kind of person who is normally looked down on in society. I have one friend who dressed up as a homeless person and begged for money on the side of the road, to see what those people experience.
This was an interesting experiment... and I hope I can try more in the future. Again, if you can, I'd totally encourage you to try something like it. It's crazy. It totally messes with how you view other people and act around them. I love it...
posted by la rana @ 11:43 AM
7 Comments:
i tried wearing a turban onto an airplane once--i don't recommend trying that.
in all seriousness, that was pretty intense! i'd never have the guts to act like a "naughty" boy. you should bring a teenage boy to accompany you next time and see if you get even dirtier looks.
"Mommy forgot her shopping list today." <---classic!
I commend you. I couldn't imagine what it would be like for teenage mothers.
...well why don't you go find out!
(by saying that, i meant...go find a baby to push around)
Geez Kubas, I thought you were recommending Ashley to get pregnant!!
One day, I wore complete black...clothes, boots, eye makeup and nail polish...into a store I go into on a regular basis. It was in the middle of winter too, so I was pale. One woman who was always very helpful and chatty with me completely ignored me as a customer and sent another associate to work with me.
I don't think that is an extreme reach for me to look gothic, but it was wierd for nice people turn snotty.
Ladies, schedules?
Um, not to diss you or anything, but I'm pretty sure dirty looks in the supermarket are the least of the average single mom's worries.
and yeah, schedules are nice.
Julie, Rachel, here's how to make a link, since you guys are crazy and don't know how!!
Go to your blogger dashboard.
Follow the link w/ your blog name on it.
Select template.
In the HTML code box, scroll nearly to the bottom until you reach three or four identical lines all in a row. It should look like this (li)(a href="http://news.google.com/")Google News(/a)(/li)
Cut the quoted URL out and paste the link that you want in there.
After that, to identify which link you've made, replace what would be google news with the name you want.
After that just republish your blog and view the wonders of what you have just accomplished.
Cut and Paste are your friends. And I'm crazy.
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