Oh, it's out there

Every now and again, something happens that makes me realize I live in a bit of a bubble, and boy is it an eye opener when it pops.

A couple weeks ago, we had a maintenance guy come to the house. As he was leaving, he was explaining to me that the space between our air condition and furnace was pretty narrow, making any repairs difficult in future should a problem arise. Unless, of course that is, "we wanted to get a little Chinaman in there."

I will confess, I was blindsided by this comment and just stared in response. In truth, I wasn't sure I had heard what I thought I had heard until our exchange was over and he was on his way. I will say upfront, that I have way of knowing whether the guy meant anything cruel or

bigoted in his comment. That said, at best, it was poor choice of words, at worst, it was an ignorant, derogatory comment based on prejudice.

There was no harm done in the moment. My kids weren't around to hear it, and nothing I could have said to the guy would have made him rethink his poor choice of language. Perhaps I should have called the guy on his ignora

nce, told him that his comment was rude and offensive. In hindsight, I do wish I'd had the presence of mind and wit to throw a zinger back at him.

It was, however, a telling reminder that ignorance and prejudice are out there and while my kids won't likely experience much of it in our little bubble, it's a big, twisted world out there and when they leave the shelter of our family and friends, they are likely to come face to face with it. Ultimately, I can't protect them from it, nor can I eradicate it from the planet. All I can do it prepare them for it and be there to support them when they face it.

That said, I hope that at least next time, I won't be blindsided. This little experience has reminded me, rather unpleasantly, that it's out there and if I'm going to help my kids face it, then I need to be able to respond to it myself.