| General Fiction posted September 19, 2016 |
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A couple of embarrassing moments.
Little Monsters
by Heather Knight
Nowadays, Spain is a multicultural country. In any given primary school classroom, there are children from Nigeria, China and several South American countries. There are also lots of Romanians, Filipinos...
Twenty years ago or so, it was a different story. You hardly ever saw a foreigner in the street. I remember an American teacher of mine said she hated it when people told her that there was a lot of racism in the United States.
'Wait till there are more blacks in Spain. Then you'll see.'
Unfortunately, she was partly right. Most Spaniards are kind to foreigners, but there are always exceptions.
A Nigerian friend of mine called a lady about a flat to rent. The lady gave him all the details, but when he turned up and she saw he was black, she shut the door in his face.
Well, this was just a preamble. Let me tell you my story. I promise to stop beating about the bush now.
When my daughter was a little girl, she didn't know any blacks. It's different for my youngest son. In fact, he has quite a few Nigerian friends.
Anyway, she used to love watching Space Jam on television. We had it on video and she saw it again and again. In case, you haven't seen it, it's a film with both humans and cartoons. Michael Jordan stars alongside Bugs Bunny, Tweetie and others.
One day, we went to the supermarket. As usual, I put her in the little seat at the front of the trolley and went about my business.
Suddenly, she touched my shoulder and I heard her say, 'Look Mummy, Michael Jordan!'
It was the first black man she'd ever seen, so she jumped to the obvious conclusion.
I was terribly embarrassed, I must have turned beetroot red. Fortunately the man seemed to find her remark funny, because he smiled at me and went on his way.
My eldest son also embarrassed me once when he was tiny. That time I was immensely happy he spoke English. We were walking along the street one day and we went past a lady who had long black hair.
'Look! A witch!' he said. In a very loud voice.
The lady didn't look horrified or anything, so I assume she didn't understand.
Children say the damnedest things. That's why God made them so cute ... otherwise we would probably get rid of them. And it doesn't bear thinking.
Most Embarrassing Moment writing prompt entry
Nowadays, Spain is a multicultural country. In any given primary school classroom, there are children from Nigeria, China and several South American countries. There are also lots of Romanians, Filipinos...
Twenty years ago or so, it was a different story. You hardly ever saw a foreigner in the street. I remember an American teacher of mine said she hated it when people told her that there was a lot of racism in the United States.
'Wait till there are more blacks in Spain. Then you'll see.'
Unfortunately, she was partly right. Most Spaniards are kind to foreigners, but there are always exceptions.
A Nigerian friend of mine called a lady about a flat to rent. The lady gave him all the details, but when he turned up and she saw he was black, she shut the door in his face.
Well, this was just a preamble. Let me tell you my story. I promise to stop beating about the bush now.
When my daughter was a little girl, she didn't know any blacks. It's different for my youngest son. In fact, he has quite a few Nigerian friends.
Anyway, she used to love watching Space Jam on television. We had it on video and she saw it again and again. In case, you haven't seen it, it's a film with both humans and cartoons. Michael Jordan stars alongside Bugs Bunny, Tweetie and others.
One day, we went to the supermarket. As usual, I put her in the little seat at the front of the trolley and went about my business.
Suddenly, she touched my shoulder and I heard her say, 'Look Mummy, Michael Jordan!'
It was the first black man she'd ever seen, so she jumped to the obvious conclusion.
I was terribly embarrassed, I must have turned beetroot red. Fortunately the man seemed to find her remark funny, because he smiled at me and went on his way.
My eldest son also embarrassed me once when he was tiny. That time I was immensely happy he spoke English. We were walking along the street one day and we went past a lady who had long black hair.
'Look! A witch!' he said. In a very loud voice.
The lady didn't look horrified or anything, so I assume she didn't understand.
Children say the damnedest things. That's why God made them so cute ... otherwise we would probably get rid of them. And it doesn't bear thinking.
Twenty years ago or so, it was a different story. You hardly ever saw a foreigner in the street. I remember an American teacher of mine said she hated it when people told her that there was a lot of racism in the United States.
'Wait till there are more blacks in Spain. Then you'll see.'
Unfortunately, she was partly right. Most Spaniards are kind to foreigners, but there are always exceptions.
A Nigerian friend of mine called a lady about a flat to rent. The lady gave him all the details, but when he turned up and she saw he was black, she shut the door in his face.
Well, this was just a preamble. Let me tell you my story. I promise to stop beating about the bush now.
When my daughter was a little girl, she didn't know any blacks. It's different for my youngest son. In fact, he has quite a few Nigerian friends.
Anyway, she used to love watching Space Jam on television. We had it on video and she saw it again and again. In case, you haven't seen it, it's a film with both humans and cartoons. Michael Jordan stars alongside Bugs Bunny, Tweetie and others.
One day, we went to the supermarket. As usual, I put her in the little seat at the front of the trolley and went about my business.
Suddenly, she touched my shoulder and I heard her say, 'Look Mummy, Michael Jordan!'
It was the first black man she'd ever seen, so she jumped to the obvious conclusion.
I was terribly embarrassed, I must have turned beetroot red. Fortunately the man seemed to find her remark funny, because he smiled at me and went on his way.
My eldest son also embarrassed me once when he was tiny. That time I was immensely happy he spoke English. We were walking along the street one day and we went past a lady who had long black hair.
'Look! A witch!' he said. In a very loud voice.
The lady didn't look horrified or anything, so I assume she didn't understand.
Children say the damnedest things. That's why God made them so cute ... otherwise we would probably get rid of them. And it doesn't bear thinking.
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Writing Prompt All of us have experienced that moment when we would have dug a hole and climbed in it just to get away from the embarrassing experience. Relive and retell your moment in as many words as it takes. Help us to feel your discomfort and laugh if it was funny. |
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